Intellectually Attracted
by Loqutor
Summary: Near the end of her prison sentence, Lana reflects on her past with Mia, beginning with the time they met in Law School. Lana x Mia, with some hints of Diego x Mia.
1. Chapter 1

My first three years of Law School were relatively uneventful. I was at the top of my class. Yay for me. Big whoop. I was a genius. It's actually not fun being smart. To get an idea of what that's like, try spending a day with only the most inept, incompetent people you know; laugh at their lame jokes, cringe at their foolhardy attempts to do anything right, and nod your head in faux agreement at their idiotic talking points.

Needless to say, I felt quite lonely and isolated throughout my first two years at law school, a loneliness punctuated only by occasional visits from my genius of a little sister, Ema. It wasn't until my third year, when a bright young girl was auditing one of the classes I was in, that I finally felt able to connect to somebody. That girl was Mia Fey, who would soon become one of the finest defense attorneys the country has ever seen. If I had only listened to her, maybe I wouldn't be in the sorry state I'm in now.

I first took notice of her when she introduced herself in class. She was beautiful and articulate, but that's not what caught my attention. What caught my attention were her ideas. She spoke of "helping the innocent", and said that in her opinion, the only crime committed by many of the people in prisons was not having good attorneys, which was something she intended to remedy. As tempted as I was to brush off her ideas as Rousseauist delusions and wishful thinking, her conviction and superior articulation proved that she was quite intelligent, enough so that when she approached me after class, I actually enjoyed speaking to her. I was reading a bulletin on the wall when she first addressed me personally. "Hi there!" she said. "You're…Dana Sykes, right?"

I turned to her, a little annoyed that she'd messed up my name. "Lana…Lana Skye. You're…Mia Fey, correct?"

She nodded. "I'm auditing the class to save money. I only hope it's good enough for me to pass the Bar."

"Well," I said, "Merely passing the Bar will get you a license, but most of your potential clients, when they found out that you never graduated, will be wary of enlisting your services."

"I doubt that," Mia replied.

"Come again?"

She explained. "I interned at the Grossberg Law Offices. The chief, Marvin Grossberg, was more than happy to teach me his techniques. 'You're a natural!' he said. 'As soon as you get your degree, there will be an office waiting for you.' I want to be a defense attorney more than anything else, and Mr. Grossberg has made it really easy for me. I owe him a debt of gratitude, despite what he did to my mother."

I was puzzled. Why would she intern at such a place? "What idid/i Grossberg do to your mother?"

Mia looked crestfallen. "He ruined her career."

"How?"

"I'll tell you after I get to know you better and feel that I can trust you." She changed the subject. "I checked the class rankings from last semester, and it seems that you were on the top."

"That's correct," I said, trying my best not to sound conceited.

"If that's the case, I'd like to study with you."

I sized her up. "You may do so tonight," I said, "But we'll only continue if you don't hold me back, and if you're capable of finding at least a few of the answers on your own."

She smiled contentedly. "Suits me. Where should we study? Your place? My place? The library?"

It was a very easy decision for me. "The library. It's got better resources, and my dorm's a bit messy."

"Good choice. My dorm probably makes yours look cleaner than a courthouse."

I laughed. "That bad, huh? I'm already starting to like you, Mia Fey. Let's meet in the Law section at four-thirty, okay?"

"I'll be there."

That evening I showed up half an hour early just to make sure I could do all the studying I needed. Promptly at four-thirty, Mia showed up at my table. She had a book bag slung over her shoulder, and was carrying two lattes from the campus coffee shop. "Which would you like?" She asked with her usual cheery smile, "I've got hazelnut, or French vanilla."

I've never been much of a coffee connoisseur, so I asked for hazelnut. "Do you always drink coffee when you study?" I inquired.

"Oh," she looked slightly embarrassed, "When I was interning at Grossberg Law Offices, one of the lawyers there got me into it. His name was Diego Armando. He was quite handsome, very intelligent, and a real hotshot. He always called me 'kitten'."

"So he's a guy you were sleeping with?" I pressed, just to see her reaction. I like to know as much as I can about people before I trust them.

Mia's face turned bright red. "What?!! N-no, he was just one of my superiors! Our relationship was strictly professional." She looked away briefly, then chuckled to herself. "He's probably going to have a heart attack soon with how much coffee he drinks."

I was curious. "How much is that?"

"About forty mugs a day. And no, I'm not exaggerating."

I whistled. "Wow. He must have a bladder the size of a watermelon."

She sipped her coffee and sat down next to me. "So, you're going to be a prosecutor, huh? May I ask why?"

"I feel that justice needs to be done. Too many criminals have been getting away, and I intend to stop that," I said. "My actual plan, though, is to become a detective first so that I can learn how to decipher and gather evidence for myself."

Her eyes widened. "Wow. You're really gung-ho about this."

"So are you," I pointed out. Then, anxious to start my study, I opened a textbook and pointed to a certain passage. "What, in your opinion, would constitute mitigating circumstances in a murder case?"

Mia brushed her bangs out of her face. It was only now that I really took notice of her hair; it was very long, like mine, and a slightly lighter brown. "I'd say that the most important is the accused's history with the victim. For instance, if a woman kills her husband, the possibility always exists that he was abusing her. That alone wouldn't excuse her for murder, but I certainly think it should lessen her sentence a little." She understood, all right, although I was inclined to disagree with her on this particular issue.

As we continued studying, it became quite clear that her intellect was at the very least equal to mine. All she had trouble with was memorizing terminology, but she understood the concepts quite well. I had the opposite problem, so I felt we were perfect to study together. Realizing I had a good opportunity, I decided to get her opinion on a random issue. "How do you feel about hate crime legislation?" I asked her.

"I'm completely against it," she answered in an instant. "It tells me that the lives of women and minorities are more valuable than the rest of the population. Murder is murder, and whether or not you're bigoted against someone doesn't make it any worse."

Before I could add my input, the PA system announced that the library would be closing in five minutes. "Well, Mia Fey," I said, "I enjoyed studying with you. My sixth sense, which I use for determining whether or not to trust people, has never failed me. How about we study at my place tomorrow night? It may be a bit messy, but it's more comfortable, and it's quieter. What do you say?"

"I don't know," Mia said, "How do I know you won't drug me and try to have your way with me?" I stared at her, puzzled. She burst into laughter. "I'm just kidding! Of course I'll be there."

I laughed as well. It was actually a pretty good joke. "See you then."

The next night, Mia arrived, this time bringing a box of donut holes with her. "Bringing goodies again," I remarked. "And you claim it's _me_ who's trying to seduce _you_."

Mia laughed and stepped in, closing the door behind her. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Actually, I mainly brought these for myself, but if you'd like some, go ahead."

I eyed the box warily. "I'll probably just have a few. I'm trying to watch my figure. Aren't you?"

She shrugged. "I've always had really high metabolism. No matter how much I eat, I never seem to gain weight."

I growled at her in mock anger. "Lucky bitch."

We sat down on the floor at my coffee table. "So," she said, "What shall we discuss tonight?"

I thumbed through my notes. "How about evidence?"

"Sure," she nodded. "The first rule of evidence law is?"

I answered without hesitation. "No evidence may be shown in court without the prior approval of the police department. What's the other one?"

"Unapproved evidence must be shown to be relevant to the case at hand," she replied.

We continued on, using some sample pictures she had printed out to test our ideas. One was a picture of a knife with dried blood on the blade. "What do you notice about this knife?" she asked me.

I pointed to a spot on the blade that was free of blood. "It's already been to the lab for testing."

"Yes," she said, "What else?"

Squinting, I looked again and pointed to the handle. "It has fingerprints that have not yet been inked and lifted."

Mia nodded. "One more thing."

No matter how I looked, I could not find it. "What exactly are you talking about?"

She lightly gripped my hand and put my index finder right on the hilt. "It has been engraved with the owner's name."

I tilted my head. "So it has. It must be expensive, then."

"What does that tell you about the killer?"

Too easy. "Either he's rich, or he stole this from a rich person."

"No wonder you're at the top of the class," Mia admonished. I realized our hands were still touching, and pulled mine away in embarrassment. She blushed. "Sorry. I forgot about that."

"It's okay," I said, "Your hands are soft and warm, unlike my ex-boyfriend's."

"Oh?" She seemed interested. "What was he like?"

I shifted my legs into a more comfortable position. "He was a construction worker. He was rather sweet, but he had trouble listening."

"Well," she said, "That's the way it is. Men and women speak different languages. Guess you just didn't speak his. Anywho, please go on."

"His name was Reggie, and I met him when I was walking past his workplace, where he was pouring cement. What I really liked about him was that he was different from the guys at school. I'm a smart, strong, opinionated woman. The guys at the college have had so much PC crap put into their heads that they only listen to women to define their masculinity, so in effect, they castrate themselves. They were scared of me, but Reggie wasn't. He knew how strong I was, and since he works with other men, he's a real man. He thought I was cute. After we talked a couple times, he asked me to coffee and I accepted. We went out for a couple weeks before we started having sex. That wasn't really enjoyable, because his favorite thing to do was play with my breasts. Don't get me wrong," I said, seeing that she had raised an eyebrow at me, "I like roughness in the bedroom, but his hands were abrasive. I asked him to try putting lotion on his hands in the mornings, but it didn't help. I guess the reason we broke up was because we just…lost our chemistry. We're still friends, though."

"He was a lucky guy," Mia said, "Dating somebody as smart and hot as you."

I laughed. "Thank you. May I have a couple donut holes?"

"Certainly," she handed me the box, and I fished out a couple. They were glazed chocolate flavor. I ate them slowly. Mia gazed at me. "I see why Reggie thought you were cute."

I allowed some time to swallow before I answered. "Oh, you. Always with the compliments."

"I really mean them," she insisted.

I blinked, then looked into her eyes. I could tell she wasn't lying. "You mean you're…"

"Yes," she said, smiling. "I'm bisexual. I've never dated a girl before, but I'm certainly open to it."

"Small world," I said, "I'm bi, too. I dated a girl a couple times in high school. It didn't last long, because she turned out to be totally straight, and already in a relationship. She had me make out with her in front of her boyfriend, and when I found out what was going on, I dumped her on the spot."

Mia nodded. "Wise decision."

Deciding there could be no harm in it at this point, I checked her out. Her hair was her most noticeable feature; it was sleek and brown, and went down to her waist. Her breasts were rather large, and looked completely natural, but the sexiest part of her body was definitely her legs; the fact that she always wore a skirt helped. "You're pretty hot yourself."

"Oh?" She said coyly, "Do you like what you see? Then how about seeing a little more?" She slowly pulled her skirt up, showing more of her slender thighs; I could feel my breathing getting heavier. Somehow, I snapped out of it and looked away.

"Let's get back to our studies before we start screwing," I said.

"Good idea," Mia pulled out a mini-cassette player. "This is a summary of an autopsy report. I think we should learn how to interpret these for ourselves."

"Sounds great to me," I said, getting a pencil.

Mia pressed the play button, and the report began. "Victim had several bruises on the body, and a small cut on the arm. There was a knife wound in his chest, which reached his heart. At the time, victim was wearing a thick leather jacket. However, due to the small size of the cut, we determined that the knife was not the cause of death. On closer inspection, the real cause of death was strangulation with a silk scarf."

Mia stopped the recording. "What does that tell you about the murderer?"

It was too easy. "The murderer was either a man or a strong, athletic woman. More likely the former."

"I also think," Mia added, "That it was the work of a professional killer. He doubtlessly tried to make it look like the knife wound caused the death to draw police suspicion on people who were carrying knives at the time."

I decided it was time for me to quiz her. "What is not admissible in court?"

She quoted the actual law almost verbatim. "Photographs taken in prison or holding cells, evidence unrelated to the case at hand, evidence shown without police department approval, and evidence obtained from places for which there was neither probable cause nor a warrant issued."

We continued our studies for a good ninety minutes. When we finally realized what time it was, it was late at night, and we had mastered everything that was covered in class that day. We stood up, but since I hadn't adjusted my legs at all, they were asleep. I wobbled around, and nearly collapsed when Mia caught me and helped me up. Her left arm was pressing against the underside of my breasts. Needless to say, I found it rather arousing; Mia, however, didn't let it control her, and she helped me stand straight. "Just walk it off, Lana," she instructed.

Before too long, the blood had returned to my legs, and I could stand on my own. "Thank you, Mia. Do you need a ride back to your dorm hall?"

"No thank you," she said, "This _is_ my dorm hall. I live on the third floor."

"Oh," She hadn't told me that. "That'll make things easier." I opened the door for her, and she stepped towards it.

I wasn't entirely prepared for what Mia did next. I was leaning against the wall; she moved in close, lightly pressing her large breasts against mine, which were average size. In her white platform shoes, she was a couple inches taller than me; she leaned down, her head bearing down near my left shoulder, and inhaled deeply. "You smell lovely, Lana. Like…roses."

I did the same with her. "You smell like jasmine." She pulled her head away from my shoulder and stared into my eyes. I stroked her cheek with my hand and lightly kissed her on the lips. "Is this what's meant by 'intellectual stimulation'?"

Mia grinned, and touched her forehead to mine. "Whether it is or isn't," she said, "It's hot." She stepped away. "I'd love to continue, but I need to get up early tomorrow to go jogging."

"Jogging?" I asked. "What time? Maybe I could go with you."

"Six AM. Ten kilometers. Can you handle that?"

I let out a scoff. "Of course. Do you really think I can stay in this good shape without exercising a lot?"

"I'll be waiting at the front entrance," she said, "And if you're not there after ten minutes, I'll start without you."

"Sure thing, hon," I took her hand in mine, brought it up to my mouth and kissed the back of it, our fingers brushing as she walked out.

I made sure to set my alarm clock for five-thirty, as I was almost too excited to sleep that night.

***

The alarm clock blared and I hit it on top, and rolled out of bed. As soon as my brain overcame its grogginess, I jumped up, pulled off my pajamas, and slipped into a t-shirt, running shoes, and jogging shorts and put my hair into a ponytail.

I went out to the front entrance and saw that Mia hadn't arrived yet. I sat on the ground and began stretching. First, I put my ankle on a trash can to stretch my calves. When I got to my glut stretch, which I did by spreading my feet apart and touching my hands on the ground, I felt a hand lightly slap my rear. It wasn't entirely surprising given our farewell the previous night. "Hello, Mia," I said without breaking my stretch.

She was apparently inspecting my back. "You're not wearing a bra," she remarked.

I stood up and looked at her. She was wearing high-stretched socks, skimpy spandex shorts, and a sports bra, and her hair was in a ponytail just like mine. I was going to have a hard time concentrating on the route. "No, I hate wearing bras. They really irritate my skin. Besides, I don't know why, but I've always felt much more comfortable in men's clothing."

"Reggie didn't mind?" She asked.

"Ha! Of course not. If anything, I'd say he had a fetish for women in men's clothing. Like I said, he was a real man who wasn't intimidated by me."

She had finished her own stretching, so we began our jog. We were both in good enough shape to talk while we exercised. "Do you still talk to Reggie?" She asked.

"Not that often," I said, "I don't want to lead him on and let him down again. I'm sure he's still in love with me. His voice always sounds so longing. But enough about me. What are your parents like?"

"My father is hardly ever around," Mia said, looking somewhat resentful, "But my mother disappeared about thirteen years ago. She's a spirit medium." I fell behind Mia for a second. She'd said 'spirit medium' as casually as if she'd have said 'nurse', 'lawyer', or 'architect'. I put on a little burst of speed to catch back up with her. "If you keep checking out my ass, you're bound to crash into something sooner or later," she warned, even though it was not my intention to do so.

"What do you mean, 'spirit medium'?" I demanded.

"Just that," Mia said. "It's an ability that flows in the Fey blood. Ever since my earliest known ancestor, Ami, all the women in my family have exhibited strong supernatural powers."

"All the women?" I probed further. "Then, does that mean that…"

"Yes," she said, knowing just what I was going to ask, "I do it, too. Of course I'm nowhere near as skilled as my mother, who was the family's last master. But I assure you, it's the real thing. I'll even show you sometime if you like."

I was certainly interested to see how she would pull this one off. At that point in my life, I didn't believe in anything even remotely supernatural. I compared life to the court room: if there was evidence to support it, I believed in it. "Sure. When is the next time you can do it?"

"Tonight, if you're free."

"I am," I said. "What will you need?"

"Just something I've got in my dorm, and a picture of the deceased."

I already had an idea for what I wanted Mia to do. "Okay. I've got a few errands to run later on, so could you stop by at five?"

"No problem."

"So, where are you originally from?" I asked.

"Kurain village" she answered. "It's a small settlement a couple miles outside of Little Tokyo. My mother is currently the master of the village."

"I thought she disappeared."

"She did," Mia said, "About thirteen years ago. Once somebody has been away from the village for twenty years, they're officially dead on our records." There was a vending machine nearby. Mia slowed down and stopped in front of it. "I've got no problem telling you now, but my throat's getting a bit dry," she explained. "Want a Gatorade?"

"No thanks," I said, "I hate the stuff. Water's much better."

She put a few coins in the machine as I sipped from a nearby drinking fountain.. Both of us were sweating, flushed, hot, and breathing heavily. She grotesquely ripped the cap off the bottle and dumped it into her mouth. Some of it didn't go in, and trickled down to the front of her sports bra. As tempted as I was to stare at her breasts, I resisted the urge, keeping in mind that she was about to tell me one of her more closely-guarded secrets. I looked her in the face as she spoke. "My mother was commissioned by a lawyer to summon a murder victim's spirit to identify his true murderer. He fingered a man who was ruled to be innocent by the judge. Marvin Grossberg, who was our family's attorney, sold the story to a blackmailer who published it in the media." Her voice began cracking. "My mother was disgraced, and left the village. I'm just hoping that I can find the man responsible, get him to confess, and convince my mom to come back home. Having her gone was hard enough for me, but my little sister Maya was hurt even more by it."

She looked like she was about ready to cry. I draped my arm over her shoulders and rubbed her upper left arm with my hand. "I know what you're going through," I sympathized. "About ten years ago, my parents died in a car accident and left me alone with my little sister, Ema. She's a really bright kid, and when you start talking to her about science, she lights up like a Roman Candle. The only problem is she's really been clinging to me since she barely knew our mother. I can't show any weakness in front of her, because I'm all she's got. But I wouldn't trade the world for her. In the end, it's her determination that keeps me going. I'm sure Maya would be proud to see how well you're doing in class."

"You really think so?" She asked, turning her head toward me.

"Do I sound like I'm joking?" I smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead.

Mia wrapped her arms around me and hugged me. "Thank you, Lana. You're a great friend."

"Not a problem," I said, running my hands up and down her back. Our combined body heat made the hug uncomfortable very quickly, so we split. Mia finished her Gatorade, dropped the bottle in a nearby trash can, and we continued our jog.

"So," Mia asked, "What do you plan on wearing in court?"

"When my mother was alive, she was a Captain in the Coast Guard. Her uniform fits me quite nicely, so I thought it'd be a nice tribute to her."

"Sounds hot," Mia said. "I'll be wearing my black-and-white blazer and a skirt. When Mr. Grossberg saw me in it, he wanted to make me the mascot of Grossberg Law Offices. I declined, of course."

"Too bad," I said. "If you'd agreed, you probably would have doubled Grossberg's clientele."

Mia laughed. "Is that so?"

I stared intently at her breasts, following them with my eyes as they bounced. "Oh yes. I have no doubt."

She laughed again. "If that's how you're thinking, maybe I'll start up my own firm once I've earned enough money working for Grossberg."

"That works, too." At that point, our conversation stopped as we were getting too short of breath to do much more talking. We got back to our dorm hall about twenty minutes later, and stretched again. "I'm gonna take a shower now, then I'll go down to the Laundromat and the credit union. I should be back by five for the channeling."

"All right. I'll be preparing myself. See you then, hon," She kissed me, and went up the stairs to her room.


	2. Chapter 2

I decided to run my errands before getting my shower, as it was Mia for whom I wanted to look presentable. I had no idea why I was asking her to do a spirit channeling for me; I certainly didn't want to mock her family's tradition, even if it was a huge farce. Besides, if I ended up saying something that hurt her feelings, I had prepared a nice dinner as backup.

For the channeling, I decided to wear my uniform for court. I was putting the final touches on my hair when a knock sounded on my door. I left the bathroom and yelled "Come in!"

Mia walked in, wearing her normal outfit. It didn't look much different than usual, at least not until I looked at her neck. She was wearing a necklace with a purple pendant shaped like a '9'. "Hello, honey," she said cheerfully, and I kissed her on the cheek.

"Did you get it?" She asked.

I nodded. "I have the picture right here. Will you need anything else?"

"No, this is enough." We sat down on the floor across from each other. Mia studied the picture carefully. "Please close your eyes, and I'll begin the channeling."

I closed my eyes. I heard Mia put her hands together. There was a slight breeze in the room. Nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. "Hello, Lana," a familiar, masculine voice said. _No, it can't be._

I opened my eyes and saw a rather unusual sight. A man was sitting across the table from me. He had Mia's hair and was wearing her clothes, but it was him all right. It didn't take me long to figure out what had happened: during the channeling technique practiced by Mia's family, the medium took on the physical appearance of whoever it was they were channeling. "Father?" I asked.

"Yes, Lana," he said, "It's me. Although this is certainly a strange way to do so, I'm glad to see you. You look just like your mother in that outfit. How are you getting on?"

"First," I said, "Prove that you're really you."

"When you were a teenager, you practiced French kissing in the mirror." Only my real father would have dug up a story as embarrassing as that one. Still, I was happy to see him. I flung myself at him, and he caught me in his arms and embraced me. "How are you getting along?"

Tears of joy flowed uncontrollably from my eyes. "I'm doing very well, father. I'm in law school now, studying to be a prosecutor."

"How are you enjoying that?"

"It's lots of fun. I feel completely at home doing it. Plus, I've finally found a friend who can keep up with me."

"Oh, who is she?"

I looked up at him and smiled. "Her name is Mia Fey. She's auditing my class. Incidentally, she's the medium who happens to be channeling you right now."

"Aww," he sounded slightly disappointed, "I was hoping I could meet her. Too bad."

"Yes. You'd like her. She's smart, beautiful, kind, and very easy to get along with. Plus, her ideas are amazing."

He raised an eyebrow. "From the tone of your voice, I'd daresay you have a crush on Miss Fey."

I could feel my face getting warmer. "Well, um, I, er…no! I don't!"

My father chuckled. "Lana, when it came to matters of the heart, you were always a terrible liar. Don't worry, I'm fine with you having a crush on a girl. You're still my daughter, and I love you."

"Thanks, dad. I love you, too. I miss you so much."

"How's Ema doing?" He asked.

"She's been doing very well in school. Her grades are amazing in science, and she really wants to be a forensic investigator."

"Tell her I said hello," he said.

"Are you going now?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I can't stay any longer. Goodbye, Lana." He kissed me on the crown of my head.

I felt a slight shift under me as his body reverted back into Mia's. Mia noticed how she was holding me, and I got off of her. She looked into my eyes. "Was it your father that I just channeled?"

I nodded. "Good guess. Thank you so much for that. I'm sorry I ever doubted it was real."

"It's okay," Mia said, standing up. "I can understand why you wouldn't believe it. I've been outside of Kurain village long enough to understand the rest of society."

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

"Well," she said, "I was going to get something from Wendy's, but if you've got a better idea, I'm all ears."

"I made something for the two of us, and I hope you'll enjoy it."

"So," she said, "You decided to turn tonight into a date, huh?"

I smiled. "If you want to put it that way, I guess so. It's about time."

"Yeah," she concurred, "The rule is to kiss after the third date, but we've been making out since before the first."

I laughed. "True, we have. Now, if you would please walk this way." I gestured her to the dining area, which was essentially a card table with a tablecloth I'd borrowed from the Culinary Arts department and two folding chairs with satin pillows on top. I pulled out Mia's chair and gestured for her to sit in it. As she sat down, I pushed her chair in behind her, just like Reggie had done for me on our dates, and I lifted the cover off her plate.

"A ribeye? Lana, you shouldn't have."

I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach. "You don't want it?"

"Are you kidding? I love steak!" The unease I felt disappeared, and Mia began cutting into the steak with her knife. Her table manners were exceptional.

"You're…surprisingly dignified at the table." I pointed out to her. "Where did you learn those manners?"

"My village," she answered casually. "Etiquette is paramount there. It's really drilled into you."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, I once said something in the middle of taking a bite, and my Aunt Morgan spanked me twenty times. And rather hard, too."

My eyes opened wide. "Wow. That's brutal."

"I just wish I had been spanked by _you_ instead." She grinned.

I laughed. "I might someday, given the right motivation and circumstances. And I promise I'll be gentle."

"I look forward to it. Maybe I'll misbehave a little." She got a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"We'll see." We both continued eating. When the silence got to be a bit awkward, I felt something brushing against my foot. At first I thought it was my cat. "Roger, stop…" Then I remembered that Ema was taking care of Roger, as they didn't allow pets in the dormitories, and it hit me. "Mia?"

"Yes?" She asked.

"Why are you doing that?"

"Because I felt like it. Is it a problem?" She moved a little higher.

I imagined the scene under the table: Mia's shapely, smooth legs rubbing against mine. My breathing got a bit heavier. "Yes, it is a problem."

"How so?"

I couldn't think up a suitable lie, so I told the truth. "It's…making me really aroused."

Mia withdrew her foot. "Then I shall save it…for when I really need it." Just a couple more bites, and Mia was finished eating. She scooted back and stood up. "Thank you for dinner, Lana. It was lovely."

"You're welcome."

Mia looked over at the clock on my wall. "It's rather early. Hey Lana, do you mind if I have a look at your stereo?"

I saw no harm in it. "Go ahead." As she was looking at my CD player, I finished and cleared the dishes up. I'd wash them later, I decided. I went into the front room and sat down on the couch, checking Mia out as she looked through my CDs. "Find anything you like?"

"Actually," she said, unzipping her blazer slightly, "I brought a little something of my own.

I looked carefully at her. My heart skipped a beat when I saw she wasn't wearing a bra. She pulled a CD case out of her blazer and put it in my CD player. Much to my dismay, she zipped her blazer back up. "No, no, no," she said, shaking a finger at me. "You don't get to see them yet." She pushed play on the CD player and sat down on the couch next to me.

When the music started, the tune sounded somewhat familiar. The electric organ came in, slow and sensual. Mia scooted next to me so that our thighs were touching. Finally the singer came up, and I instantly recognized them: "If I was your girlfriend, would u tell me all the things u forgot, when I was your man?" Prince—one of my favorites. I leaned in and kissed Mia, brushing her cheek with my hand. She stroked my ear with her fingers. The second verse came around, and Mia kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the couch so that her body was crouching over mine. She put her other hand underneath my back, pulling us closer together. I wrapped my arms around her back and drove my tongue into her mouth. Soon, she was lying on top of me, and we were feeling each other up. I got my hands onto her butt, which was nice and firm. I slapped it a bit, just as she'd mentioned she wanted. The song got to an interesting line, which Mia sang along with—"Would u let me kiss u down there, u know, where it really counts?"

I slapped her ass again. "Maybe..." She started kissing my neck. "Hey, Mia," I remembered something at that moment.

"Hmm?" She continued on my neck.

"Our class has a mock trial on Wednesday. Did you hear about it?"

"Mm-hmm. _State of California v. Lex Luthor_. I believe it's a trial for Superman's murder. I'm going to be the defense, of course. What's your role?"

I couldn't hide the disappointment in my voice. "I'm going to be the Judge since I'm at the top of the class."

"Why aren't you excited about that, hmm?" She kissed my earlobe.

"I was hoping I'd be the prosecution, so I could face off against you."

Mia laughed. "If we did that, we'd both be in the spotlight, so we'd make the rest of the class feel stupid."

Another slap on her rear. "Glad you think so highly of our abilities."

"Hey, I'm just being realistic." She kissed me on the mouth before I could say anything else.

We made out for about twenty minutes longer. I noticed that Mia was getting a little slower and more relaxed. She brought her lips down on my neck, and then stopped moving. Her breathing got slower and heavier, and I realized what had happened: she fell asleep. I couldn't bring myself to wake her up, so I just let her sleep on top of me. Soon, I was out myself.

I woke up the next morning when I felt my breasts being squeezed and wiggled. Opening my eyes, I saw Mia, her hands on my chest and an obscene grin on her face. "I was wondering how long it would take you to wake up." She was kneeling on the floor by the couch.

I still felt a little groggy. "Couldn't you have just let me sleep, you pervert?"

"No," Mia shook her head. "It's eight already. We've got class in two hours."

I sat bolt upright and Mia released her hands. "Thanks for waking me up," I said with a yawn.

"No problem," Mia winked at me. I kissed her, stood up, and went off to take a shower.

When Mia saw me heading into the bathroom with a towel over my shoulder, she asked "Would you like me to wash your back for you?"

I turned and stuck my tongue out at her. "You wish."

***

At class that day, I was given the smallest packet out of anybody there—a simple case summary. **Metropolis' beloved hero, Superman, was found dead yesterday in an alley. There was a bullet in his heart. Since lead bullets do not harm Superman, this one was made of an extraterrestrial substance known as 'Kryptonite', which, if reports are to be believed, made Superman weak and ill. Kryptonite is very hard to obtain, and the person who has the world's largest supply is millionaire investor Lex Luthor. Indeed, a warrant was obtained to search his mansion, and the search uncovered a deposit of twenty-thousand kilograms. Strangely enough, Mr. Luthor has an alibi for the time the murder was committed. He would have been released were it not for the gun found at the crime scene, bearing Mr. Luthor's fingerprints, as well as an eyewitness testifying to having seen Mr. Luthor deliver the fatal shot. As the Judge, you will listen to the cross-examination of Mr. Luthor by the defense and the prosecution, and you will decide his guilt or innocence. Make sure you make the right decision, because the soul and economy of Metropolis hang in the balance!** "Wow," I said to myself, "No pressure there!"

I really wanted to know what was going on with the mock trial, so I met up with Mia after class and hugged her from behind. "Hi, honey," I said, rubbing her sides tenderly and kissing her on the cheek.

She seemed a bit taken aback by my friendliness. "Hi Lana," she said uneasily, "What's going on?"

"Well," I rested my chin on her shoulder, "I really wanna see your case data."

"Sorry," she said, "I'm only allowed to show it to the defensive team."

"Come on," I pleaded, batting my eyes at her, "I hate being left in the dark." Just for good measure I blew into her ear.

Mia drew a long, quivering breath. "I'm sorry, Lana, I'm not allowed to show it to you, not even if you offer to eat me out in exchange."

"Phooey." I dropped my act. "I guess I'll just find out on Wednesday then."

"Yes," Mia turned around and smiled. "If you make the right decision in handing down your verdict, my body is all yours. Remember, that doesn't necessarily mean giving Mr. Luthor a 'not guilty'; it means making the right decision."

"I understand."

"Good," she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be meeting with the rest of the defense team as well as my client in the library. And if I catch you eavesdropping in there, the deal's off." She kissed me on the forehead and ran off.


	3. Chapter 3

Finding a Judge's robe at the costume store wasn't too difficult. I wore it to class on Wednesday, which was the first time I saw Mia since after class on Monday. Everything was in place. As I entered, a student said "All rise in the presence of the Honorable Justice Lana Skye." The whole class stood as I walked in and took my seat on the podium.

"All may be seated," I said, and began the proceedings. "The trial of The People of the State of California vs. Lex Luthor will now come to order. Are the defense and prosecution prepared?"

Mia and the prosecutor—a guy named Rashood Fereydoon—stood simultaneously. "The defense is ready, your Honor," Mia said.

"The prosecution is ready, your Honor," Rashood said.

"Your opening statement, Mr. Fereydoon."

He cleared his throat. "Last week, a vaulted pillar of our community—a vigilante named Superman—was found murdered in an alley on Fourth Street. What set Superman apart from his contemporaries, such as Wonder Woman, was that he always operated within the law. This even caused some tension between him and other superheroes, who referred to him as 'The Big Blue Boy Scout'. Most notably, he had a fight with Wonder Woman, when she killed a criminal that they had apprehended. Superman was a wonderful example to the children of Metropolis, who greatly idolized him. Now that he's gone, the streets of Metropolis will be much more dangerous. It is the intention of the prosecution to show that Lex Luthor, a long-time enemy of Superman, brought about his untimely demise with this pistol, which has the name LEX LUTHOR engraved on it," he held up a Ziploc bag with a toy gun inside, "Which contained a bullet designed specifically for Superman," and held up another bag containing a bullet that had been spray-painted light green. He sat down.

"They will be admitted to the Court as Exhibits A and B, respectively. Thank you, Mr. Fereydoon." I looked at Mia. "How does the defendant plea?"

Mia stood. "Your Honor, on the charge of murder in the first degree of Superman, my client pleads Not Guilty."

"Very well," I said. "The prosecution may call its first witness."

Rashood stood. "The prosecution calls detective Rachel Warner, in charge of homicides in the Metropolis Police Department." Rachel went up, took her oath, and sat down. "Miss Warner," he said with a professional air, "Please give us an overview of the case at hand."

"Yes sir," Rachel said. "I have here a reproduction of a photograph of the murder scene."

"The Court accepts it into evidence as Exhibit C," I said, not skipping a beat. "Please continue, Miss Warner."

"Yes, your Honor. Superman's body was found on the morning of Monday, May 17th by a homeless man who called the police. We questioned the man, and determined that he did not witness the murder. The doctors placed the time of death Sunday night at around midnight. They were quite astounded when they did the autopsy; they couldn't cut through the body unless they were holding the bullet near the scalpel. They think this is because…"

I cut her off. "Miss Warner, please spare the Court the analysis of Superman's anatomy, and focus only on points relevant to this trial."

"My apologies, your Honor. Now, the bullet found in Superman's body was lodged in his heart, and death was instantaneous. The bullet has been discovered to be made of Kryptonite, an extraterrestrial substance, and, as Superman's coworkers have informed me, it is this very substance that was the only thing which could stop Superman, although it is not harmful to humans. A pistol was found at the scene of the crime, and a ballistics test confirmed that it was indeed the pistol that fired the Kryptonite bullet. The pistol itself was examined; lab tests showed that it was fired only once, although it had six bullets, all of Kryptonite, and it was covered in Lex Luthor's fingerprints."

Rashood asked another question. "What happened then?"

"We obtained a court order to search Mr. Luthor's mansion. Our search of his underground vault uncovered twenty thousand kilograms of Kryptonite."

"And did Mr. Luthor have an alibi for the time of the murder?"

"He said he was at his house working on an upcoming speech. His butler confirmed the alibi."

"This can hardly be counted. After all, Lex Luthor is the one who writes the butler's paycheck."

Mia slammed her hands on the table and yelled "Objection! That's pure conjecture!"

I gestured Mia to approach the podium, although I spoke loudly enough for the whole courtroom to hear. "Miss Fey," I warned her, "You do not need to slam your hands on the table. Simply saying 'Objection' will suffice. The only slamming in here will be done by me with my gavel."

Mia looked up at me and smiled. "I'm sorry, your Honor."

I smiled back at her. "Objection sustained." I sat back in my seat. "Mr. Fereydoon, you will withdraw that statement, and the stenographer will strike it from the record."

Rashood stepped back. "No further questions, Your Honor." He took his seat.

"The defense may question the witness."

"Gladly, your Honor," Mia stood up and walked over to Rachel. "Miss Warner, when you examined my client's safe, what shape was the Kryptonite in?"

"It was in all sorts of different shapes. Some of it resembled core samples, some of it was in the shape of discs, some of it was in the shape of bars, and some of it was in raw form."

"Was any in the shape of bullets?"

"No, none of it was."

"In my client's mansion, did you find any equipment for the manufacture of bullets?" I stared. Mia was really on the ball with this trial.

"No, we did not."

"Did you find any order forms for custom-made bullets?"

"No," she answered yet again.

"Do you see any reason to believe that my client made those kryptonite bullets?"

"Objection!" Rashood yelled. "She's leading the witness!"

I saw no reason to believe so. "Overruled. Please think before you speak, Mr. Fereydoon. Please continue, Miss Fey."

"Do you see any reason to believe that my client made those kryptonite bullets?" Mia repeated.

"I do not."

Mia left the stand momentarily. "Miss Fey!" I said. "Why are you doing that?"

She looked at me and spoke defiantly. "I'm getting a piece of evidence. Do I have to tell you every single thing I'm doing?"

Although I could see it was a trick of hers, I went for it. "I don't like that attitude, Miss Fey. Address me as 'your Honor'. If you ever talk back to me again, I will find you in contempt of court."

"Understood," she said.

"Understood…what?"

"Understood…your Honor." She reached into her briefcase and pulled out what looked like a twenty-page paper-clipped document. "At my client's request, I conducted a search of his home last night, and I found this. It's a copy of the speech he claimed he was writing. Did you examine the files on my client's personal computer?"

"I did," Rachel said.

"And can you confirm that the date on this document is authentic?"

"It is."

"Then why didn't you mention it before?" I asked.

Mia glared at me, though there was no malice in her face. Only mischief. "If you don't mind, your Honor, I'm asking the questions here."

"I don't mind that you're asking questions," I said, "But I do mind the tone of your voice. You are now in contempt of court. Please see me in my chambers after the trial is over." I winked at her. "I think you know what that means."

"Yes, your Honor," she said.

"The court accepts the speech into evidence as Exhibit D."

"Let me repeat the Judge's question," Mia continued. "Why didn't you mention this document in your initial testimony?"

Rachel looked down. "Because the prosecutor told me not to mention it."

The whole classroom started clamoring. I hit my gavel on its stand several times. "Order! Order in the court!" They quieted down. "Mr. Fereydoon, what is the meaning of this? You have been withholding evidence from the court. Explain yourself!"

Rashood did not stand. "I did not consider the speech relevant," he said.

"Not relevant?" I demanded. "That's Mr. Luthor's alibi! I find you in contempt of court for withholding evidence. I think you can understand the nature of this charge well enough, so you will not need to see me in my chambers afterward."

"If your Honor would allow me to explain," he said, "I did not find the speech to be compelling evidence because, for all we know, Mr. Luthor could have written it another night, and modified it slightly and saved it on his computer on the night of the murder."

"Your point is upheld," I said, "But you are still in contempt. You should have had your witness explain it for the court." I turned to Mia. "You may continue, counselor."

"One final question," Mia said. "Did you perform a gunpowder residue test on Mr. Luthor?"

"Yes. There was no gunpowder on his hands."

"No further questions, your Honor."

"Witness," I said to Rachel, "You may step down." She stepped down. "Does the prosecution have any more witnesses to call?"

"I have one more," Rashood said. "The prosecution calls Joseph Mulligan, a man who witnessed the crime." Joseph Mulligan was sworn in. "State your name and occupation for the court," Rashood prompted him.

"Joseph Mulligan. I'm an investor."

"What do you invest in?"

Mia was ready for this one. "Objection!" She shouted. "Irrelevant."

"Sustained," I turned to Joe. "You don't have to answer that question."

Rashood was ready with his next question. "Where were you on the night of May 17th?"

"I was out at the Dreyfus Brothers' pub, celebrating an investment project that had succeeded."

"Did you witness anything out of the ordinary?"

"I did," he said.

"Please testify to the court."

"It was late Sunday night, and I was walking back to my car from the pub. I passed an alley on Fourth Street, and I saw a man in the alley pointing a gun at Superman. He said 'You'll never stop me again,' and he pulled the trigger. It was the man in the defendant's chair! I saw the bullet hit Superman, who fell down instantly. Figuring the man would probably want to kill me too, I ran to my car and drove away. I tried calling the police, but my cell phone was broken."

"One more question," Rashood said, "Why didn't you call the police when you got home?"

"Because…I didn't think that Superman had died. I thought he was faking it. I've seen people empty their guns at him and all their bullets bounced off."

"No further questions, your Honor," Rashood said. "Prosecution rests."

Mia stood up. "Mr. Mulligan," she said, "How did you know that it was my client that you saw? I mean, it was rather dark that night. There was a new moon."

"The gun flash illuminated his face."

"So, which side of the alley were you on when you saw him?"

"The, uh, left side."

"Did you notice anything unusual about that side of his face?"

"No."

Mia shifted John Larson's (the student playing Lex Luthor) head, and pointed to his cheek. There was a rather large bruise there. "Mr. Luthor, how did you get that?"

John answered, "I got into a fight with my father, about two weeks ago. Ask any of his servants; they can confirm it."

Joe started sweating. "S-so?"

"So, since you didn't see the bruise, how do we know you really saw my client?"

As he struggled for an answer, Mia got a piece of paper out of her briefcase and presented it. "I have right here a theft report filed by my client a month prior to the incident." She handed it to me. "Is that correct, your Honor?"

I looked at it. "Yes, it is."

"If your Honor would be so kind as to read the description of the missing items to the court."

I read aloud. "One kilogram refined kryptonite, and one 9mm magnum revolver, engraved with owner's name."

"I have also looked up your history," Mia said to Joe. "Your brother went to jail six months ago. According to the police, he was citizen-arrested by Superman. Is that correct?"

"Yeah, who cares??!!!"

"And you were spotted four months ago trespassing at Luthor Mansion."

Joe broke down. "That spandex-wearing vigilante got what he deserved! My brother was innocent! And Luthor's no better! He's been stealing from his investors!" He slammed his fists on the side of the witness stand, and something hit the floor. Mia picked it up, and handed it to me.

"What do you suppose that is, your Honor?"

"Looks to me like a kryptonite bullet."

Mia tossed her hair, a look of triumph on her face. "Defense rests."

I spoke. "I see no reason to further prolong the trial. The evidence is quite clear. For the murder in the first degree of Superman, this court finds the defendant, Lex Luthor, not guilty." I slammed my gavel. "Mr. Luthor, you may leave this court a free man."

The professor congratulated Mia on winning. She thanked him, and approached me. "I'm ready for my discipline, your Honor."

I stood up. "Follow me to my chambers." We walked across campus, all the way to my dorm room, and locked the door behind us.

"Shall I remove your robe, your Honor?" She didn't even wait for me to give permission, but started pulling off my robe; not that I minded. She pulled off my t-shirt that I had worn underneath the robe. I reached down, making sure to remove her panties and skirt at the same time. She put her mouth on one of my breasts while she pulled of my lower garments, and before long, we were both naked. Realizing I had an opportunity to fulfill one of her desires, I ordered her to lie on her stomach on the floor.

"You took my clothes off without asking," I reprimanded her.

"I'm sorry, your Honor," she said, not sounding sorry at all. "The urge was just too strong for me to resist. I await sentencing."

I put my hand on her rear and moved it around. "You've got a nice, firm ass, counselor," I remarked. "I sentence the defendant to five spanks, administered by myself." I slapped her there five times, making sure not to hurt her, but that she felt it well.

"Any other charges?" She asked.

"Yes," I said. "I originally summoned you into my chambers because I found you in contempt of court. That means another three spankings." I delivered them on the spot, then, sitting behind her, I pried her cheeks apart and looked between her legs. "You're rather wet, counselor. If I didn't know better, I'd say you wanted to be found in contempt of court because you enjoyed the punishment."

She lightly hit her fist against the floor. "You saw right through me, your Honor." I put my tongue to her nub and licked in a long streak all the way up to the base of her spine. "Wow," she said, "Who would've guessed? An ass-licking judge."

I pulled my face away. "That's another count of contempt." I spanked her three more times. "You're even wetter now." I put my mouth back on her, noticing that it tasted distinctly like cherries.

"Mmm…" she moaned. "Your Honor certainly knows how to discipline attorneys."

"That's not all I can do, counselor." I was quite wet myself, and using my own juices, I lubed up my thumb and stuck it right in Mia's back door.

"Oh!" She gasped, seeming startled. "I've never had anything in there before."

"You mean that attorney, Mr. Armando, never tried anything like this?" I stuck two fingers into her other side. "Remember, I can tell if you're lying when I do this." Just to throw her off a bit more, I made sure to touch her inside right on the spot where it counted.

"I…told…you," she huffed, "I…never…slept with him."

I slid up along her body, making sure to brush my breasts against her skin, and lay on top of her, my other hand squeezing her left breast. "I can tell you're being honest, counselor," I whispered in her ear. Mia climaxed after three minutes of me working on her. I pulled my fingers out, and felt her legs quiver beneath me.

"Lana," she said, hardly using her vocal cords, "That…was…great. Thank you."

"I liked it, too." I kissed her on her neck, and rolled off of her. "But now we're all sticky. What should we do about it?"

Mia sat up, her breasts bouncing. "Let's take a shower."

"Sounds good to me." In the bathroom, I looked in my linen box and found my gigantic beach towel. That would work well for my purposes. Mia turned on the water and took my hand. Since the stall was rather cramped, I kept my hair products and soap on a shelf to avoid bending over. Once our bodies were wet, Mia diverted the showerhead toward a wall, grabbed the soap, and made a 'turn around' gesture. I complied, and she lathered up my entire backside. I'm sure she lathered her front as well, because she began rubbing her torso against my back, the soap creating a sort of slip-n-slide effect. As she humped me (I can't think of a better term for it, though it felt much more elegant than such a crude term), her slippery hands ran over my breasts. I had never been so aroused in my life. She casually ran a hand over my throbbing sex. Then, all of a sudden, she stopped.

"Let's rinse off," she suggested. I agreed, but when we finished, she wouldn't let me turn off the water. Instead, she pointed it at the wall for a few seconds, then slid down until she was sitting between my legs on the floor of the shower. "You might want to lean back against the wall," she advised me. I leaned back, and sure enough, she put her mouth right where I was expecting. Let me tell you, the courtroom was not the only place where Mia was skilled with her tongue. In just two minutes, she had bathed me in a glow of pure pleasure. It was a good thing the shower stall was so tiny; otherwise, I may have had a concussion when the orgasm made my knees buckle. As soon as I'd gotten a hold of myself, Mia got a bottle of shampoo and worked on my hair for me. I did hers in return. We rinsed off, and finally got out of the shower.

I unfurled the towel (which was about the size of a bedsheet) and we dried ourselves with different ends of it. Seeming to understand my intentions, she stood facing me, our bodies flush with one another, and wrapped the towel around us, fastening us together. We kissed; not our usually lustful, hungry kiss, but a tender, loving one with little tongue. I ran my finger under her chin. "I love you, Mia," I said. I sort of blurted it out, but once I realized what I'd said, I felt no regrets about saying it.

She put her head on my shoulder and hugged me a little tighter. "I love you too, Lana." A brief pause, then, "Could I move in with you?"

"Sure," I said, "As long as you don't get the place too messy. My only reservation is that we might get too busy humping to study."

"Nah," Mia brushed it off. "Two geniuses like us? We'll be fine."

I laughed. "If you say so. I'll help you take your stuff down here tomorrow."

She unwrapped the towel. "Thanks. But, um,"

"Yes?"

"Could I spend the night here? My mattress is rather uncomfortable."

"Sure," I said. "I'll even let you wear a pair of my pajamas."

"Thanks. That's really nice of you."

I smiled at her. "What are girlfriends for?"

Mia grabbed a towel off the rack above the toilet and wrapped her hair in it. She put on the pair of pajamas I'd offered her. "I'm going up to my dorm to get my straightening iron. Be right back."

"Okay." I decided to blow-dry my hair while I waited. It turned out nicely when I was done. I was so busy styling it in the mirror, I didn't even notice Mia enter the bathroom. She playfully slapped my rear.

"Still naked? C'mon, I need to use the mirror, too." She slightly pushed me out of the way and started brushing her hair.

"Mia!" I scolded her and pushed her away, "I'm not quite done yet. Just be a little patient."

"But if I don't do my hair now, it'll…" She stepped back for a few seconds, as if trying to compose herself. "Sorry. Let's try not to fight outside of the courtroom. I'll buy another mirror tomorrow when I finish moving in."

"I'm sorry, too," I said. "Though an occasional fight is a good thing in every relationship. My cousin is a marriage counselor, and he says that the couples that break up the fastest are the ones who never fight or argue."

"True," Mia agreed. "Even so, arguments are rather unpleasant."

"'Kay," I stepped away from the mirror. "I'm done. It's all yours."

"I'd rather look at that ass a little longer."

I blew a raspberry at her and closed the bathroom door behind me. While I waited for her to finish, I put on my pajamas and read from our textbook. I'd gotten halfway through the chapter when Mia came out, her shiny brown hair hanging down to her waist. She climbed into bed with me and looked on until I announced that I was feeling a little drowsy. I closed the book and kissed her. "Good night, honey," I said and turned out the light.

Mia wrapped her arms around me. "Good night."


	4. Chapter 4

Nothing quite compares to waking up in the morning to discover that you're holding onto your lover. What's even better is if they're holding onto you as well. That was what happened to me the morning before Mia moved in. I woke up while she was still asleep; it would have been rude to wake her up, so I just stayed there and stared at her. Her perfect nose, her luscious lips, her beautiful closed eyes; it was all just begging to be touched. Slowly, very slowly, I put the back of my fingers on her nose, and ran them across her cheek bone down to her jaw. A smile crept across her face, although she did not awaken. She didn't wake for another five minutes, but when she did, it was like looking into the face of an angel. "Good morning, Mia," I said, kissing her.

Her hand went to my rear end and squeezed. "Good morning, Lana." Yeah, she was an angel—who liked to grope people.

I frowned and started sitting up. "You kinda killed the mood there."

She rapidly withdrew her hand. "Sorry."

"Just kidding." I grabbed one of her breasts to tell her that I could take a joke.

"Don't mess around with me like that!" She glared at me, but then broke into a smile. "So, ready to help me move my stuff?"

I got out of the bed and yanked the sheets off of Mia. "On an empty stomach? I don't think so. Let's have some breakfast first. What would you like?"

Mia curled up into a ball, then thrashed around, as if she were cold. She rolled onto her front and stuck her butt up in the air. "A rice omelet would be nice." Then she laughed. "Just kidding, I don't need you to treat me like a princess. Cereal is good enough."

I spanked her. "Cereal? That's so boring to make. I'm surprised at you, doubting my cooking abilities. You'll get your rice omelet. Now make the bed."

She let out a long sigh and got off the bed. "Fine, fine…"

I always had some spare rice on hand. I nuked the right amount in the microwave, and got the eggs going. Mia had finished making the bed right when I finished making two rice omelets, which I placed at different ends of the table. "I have an important question, Mia," I began.

She looked up, and continued eating. "Shoot."

"I just wanted to know," I said, "How you see us. I mean, it's great that you're moving in, and I don't doubt that your feelings are genuine, but are you really interested in a long-term relationship?"

"Well," she seemed to be raking up her muddy thoughts, "I was just thinking we'd see how it went before we make any big decisions, like having a civil union. I'm sure we'll be fine, but I just want to be careful. When I was in high school, I had the same boyfriend for three years. For the last year of that relationship, I was really suffering. I mean, I could tell he wanted it to continue, but I really was not happy. Leaving him was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I broke both my heart and his in the process."

"I see." She'd been burned before, and wanted to do things right this time. That was perfectly understandable. "I'll let you think about it a little. The last thing I want is for you to be with me and unhappy."

Mia smiled. "That's so nice of you Lana. I love you even more." She took another bite of her omelet, and a grain of rice stuck to her chin; she didn't notice it.

I stared long and hard at that grain of rice. It looked so delicious. I wanted to just lick it off of her and lick that spot clean.

"Is something bothering you, Lana?" Mia looked puzzled. Trying to keep my cool, I stood up and walked over to Mia hoping that she wouldn't see my crotch, which was doubtlessly darkening my pajama bottoms at the moment. In a gesture that I hoped would appear romantic, I stood behind Mia and gently pulled her head back so that she was looking up at me. I slowly bent down and put my mouth on her chin, pulling up the little bit of food that had spilled there, then tried to cover my actions by kissing her on the mouth. "What was that all about?"

"You…had a bit of rice on your face, so I got it off for you."

Mia laughed. "Aren't you the sweetest."

Confident that she hadn't seen, I walked to the bedroom and discreetly changed my panties. When I came back out, Mia was done eating. We walked up the stairs to her dorm room, where conveniently enough, most of her possessions were already in boxes. So she had been counting on me to say 'Yes'. There were only three boxes, and the elevator was close by. Once all of her possessions had been moved, we began unpacking. Just to help make the work more enjoyable, I put the radio on to the Classic Rock station. "So," I asked Mia, "Which court system do you prefer, the old or the new?"

"Definitely the old," she said. "It's too easy for this one to become corrupt. Not to mention that the Founding Fathers are probably rolling in their graves over it. Thomas Jefferson considered the right to a trial by Jury to be more important than the right to vote."

"I agree," I said. "I've never heard that sentiment attributed to Jefferson, but it sounds like something he'd say. I object to the new one for another reason. It's too easy to prepare a case, and that makes our minds dull."

"We don't have to worry about that," Mia said, walking up to me and wrapping her arms around me. "We can keep each other sharp."

I leaned in for the kiss. "You really light my fire, in more ways than one." Almost as if on cue, just as my lips met Mia's, a very familiar organ riff played. I'm sure we identified it at the same time, and we kissed even harder when that sexy male voice came on, and said for me exactly what I wanted to say to Mia.

"You know that it would be untrue/ You know that I would be a liar/ If I was to say to you/ 'Girl, we couldn't get much higher'/ Come on, baby, light my fire,/ Come on, baby, light my fire,/ Try to set the night on fire…"

We separated, and I turned to the radio. "Thank you, Jim."

Mia took my hand in hers and raised her arm above her head. "I think we've just found 'our song'."

"Indeed we have," I twirled under her arm and she dipped me and I ran a hand through her hair. She pulled me up, and we resumed unpacking. With her, Mia had brought a digital projector, which I knew would work on the wall right across from the couch. "So you'd like us to have movie nights here? That's very thoughtful of you." Mia said nothing, but merely smiled. Then I opened the next box, and found her DVDs. Half of them were pornographic. One of them even said on the front: "Courtroom Bang 4: THE PROSECUTION FUCKS THE DEFENSE…LITERALLY!" It showed a man and a woman in a courtroom, both of them wearing semi-formal suits, with the woman in a helpless-looking pose. I held it up in front of Mia. "Explain."

She snapped her fingers in disappointment. "Busted. I was gonna use that to get into your pants sometime."

I raised an eyebrow. "You think some cheap, shallow tit film will get me to fuck you?"

Mia shrugged. "I haven't seen it yet, so I don't know how good it is. If it's the schlock-fest you seem to think it will be, we can always watch it for the entertainment value and make fun of it."

I laughed. "That's a new one. Mystery Porno Theater 3000?"

"Sure, why not?"

I smiled. Living with Mia was going to be fun. When we finally finished moving Mia's things, it was already lunchtime. I called to have some Chinese food delivered. Mia requested Beef Lo Mein, while I ordered General Tso's chicken.

"Just out of curiosity, why Lo Mein?" I asked her.

"You'll see," she said.

The food arrived, and we ate it at the dining table. This time around, Mia's good manners seemed to have disappeared. She sucked the noodles up very slowly, occasionally wrapping her finger in them. I couldn't help staring very hard at this sight. It was practically torture for me. The meal had come with two complimentary fortune cookies. I opened mine and read it. It said "One of your greatest fantasies will soon be fulfilled." I decided not to show it to Mia. She showed me hers anyway. It said "Your life has just taken a turn for the better."

"That is definitely referring to my moving in here. I just know it," she said.

I said nothing, but kissed her on the cheek and threw away the boxes from our food, then announced my intention to take a shower. "Go ahead," she said, "I need to lie down for a while."

As I felt the warm water pouring down on me, images of Mia eating kept flowing through my head. My hand seemed to have a mind of its own. I thought of Mia with the noodles hanging halfway out of her mouth. Oh, how I had wanted to bite the other end of those noodles and suck them into my mouth _Lady and the Tr*mp_ style. Then I imagined Mia eating rice topless, the grains falling onto her breasts. Cleaning them up from there would be such a treat. I had to bite my lip to keep my moans of pleasure from being heard.

When I was done drying off, I got dressed and went into the living room, where I saw Mia asleep on the couch. She'd removed her pajama top. I was so used to seeing her topless by now that it wouldn't have aroused me had she not dropped a couple pieces of candy onto her abdomen. Just to make sure she didn't know what was going on, I listened closely to her breathing. Good, she was actually asleep. I very carefully put my mouth down onto her stomach and sucked the candy off. Now that the greatest distraction was finally removed, I got out my law textbook and sat on the couch. Just for fun, I put Mia's lower legs on my lap as I read. She didn't wake up until the sun was nearly setting. When she stirred, I tickled her feet. "Hey! St-HA! HA! HA! Stop that, Lana!"

I looked at her. "You've been in your pajamas all day."

She pulled her feet back and smiled childishly. "That's because they're so comfy."

"Well, no problem with you staying in them," I said. "I was thinking of watching a movie tonight."

Mia sat up. "I have a surprise for you before we see the movie. Go into the bedroom, and I'll call you out when it's ready."

I got up somewhat reluctantly. "Umm, okay."

As I waited, I could hear Mia walking from the couch to the fridge, opening the fridge, and walking back to the couch. A couple minutes later, she called me back in.

What I saw automatically made my hands cover my crotch to hide any external signs of arousal—a silly gesture at this point that hid nothing from Mia. "I figured out your dirty little secret," she said. "It's quite simple: you have a thing for using people as dishes." Mia was completely naked; her breasts were covered in Cool Whip, with a strawberry on top of each nipple. I stood up straight and took off my pants and the second pair of my panties that had been dirtied that day. To keep my shirt from getting dirty, I took that off as well. "Was it really that easy to figure out?" I asked.

"I suspected something when you put so much ceremony into getting that rice off my chin. I ordered the noodles to see how you'd react to seeing them on my face, and your reaction pretty much confirmed it. So, I decided to make your dessert for you tonight."

I climbed onto the couch and straddled Mia, my legs between hers. "That's very smart of you, and I'm sure you'll enjoy serving this dessert as much as I'll enjoy eating it." I put my head down and slowly licked the cool whip off of her left breast. Once the cream was gone, I plucked the strawberry off with my lips and ate it. I did the same thing to her right breast, but when I got to the nipple, I took the strawberry into my mouth, bit it and closed my mouth over as much of the breast as I could, and applied the strongest suction I was capable of, and slowly pulled my head back until the breast popped out of my mouth. There was a little cream left in Mia's cleavage, so I got it up with my tongue, and allowed Mia to suck it off. She wrapped her legs around my hips, holding them tight so that our sexes were touching. I moved my body back and forth to stimulate both of us at the same time. Mia moaned loudly, and I kissed her neck. "Shh," I warned her, "Somebody might hear you."

"I don't care," she said, and I could feel her growing wetter (or was that me?). "Let them enjoy the show." When the climax finally came around, Mia moaned very loudly, as if trying to tell the world how much she was enjoying herself. I didn't really mind, because I was enjoying it, too.

I kissed Mia and sat up. "How about we test your projector?" I suggested.

"Good idea," she said. "I've got just the perfect movie for you." I watched her as she set it up. She was careful to hide the disk from me until she put it in the projector. "I'm gonna take a shower and get my pajamas back on."

"Okay," I said, "I'll get mine on, too."

We started the movie twenty minutes later. It was iWho Framed Roger Rabbit?/i "Ah, the memories," I said.

"I figured you'd like this," she said, "Since you plan to be a detective before becoming a filthy prosecutor."

I flicked her ear. "If it weren't for prosecutors, defense attorneys wouldn't have a job."

"S-sorry." She sounded strangely aroused. About ten minutes in, Mia asked a rather strange question. "So, out of all the characters in this movie, which do you want to do the most?"

I decided to go with it anyway. "Male or female?"

"Male, of course. If I said female, you'd definitely say 'Jessica Rabbit'."

I laughed. "True, she's the epitome of sexy. Hmm…I'd have to say Judge Doom. He's handsome, and quite dangerous. Roger's funny enough, but bestiality really isn't my thing." I put a hand around her waist. "How about you?"

Mia rubbed her foot against mine. "Eddie Valiant."

This confused me. "Why him? He doesn't have much in the way of looks or personality."

"Maybe not," she said, "But he does have one thing that Judge Doom and Roger don't."

I ran a finger along her

"A real, live, actual penis. That's where it counts."

When the final battle between Eddie Valiant and Judge Doom started, Mia grabbed my arm. "Could you please loosen up a bit?"

Had I been tightening my grip? "Sorry. It's just that this scene scared the shit out of me when I was little."

"Me too," she said. "Those eyes are pure evil. The cover of the movie is so misleading. It's made to look like some goofy crossover between real-life and cartoons, but it's no kids' movie."

"On that note," I said, "I think we should do some studying before we get to bed. I put on my pajamas and crawled into bed. When Mia got her book out, I gestured to the spot next to me. She was already wearing her pajamas, and slipped into bed. For about an hour, we pored over page after page of boring tort statutes.

Mia slammed her book shut. "Who ever knew that law school could be so tedious?"

I laughed. "My dad said it was much harder in the days when we still had juries. You're lucky you aren't present when you channel people. If you were, he'd probably lecture you for an hour."

Mia laughed, then kissed me. "I like living with you, Lana. You're a lovely person."

"I try," I said simply. Then something came to my mind. "Mia, can I ask you a…rather deep and personal question?"

"Well…" She thought for a second. "Since we're now officially a couple, I don't see any reason to keep secrets from you. What is it?"

"What is your real reason for wanting to be a lawyer?" I asked, then elaborated. "I mean, if you'd wanted to bring down the man who ruined your mother, why not just hire a detective and have them send their findings to a journalist?"

Mia sighed. "I was hoping this wouldn't come up. It's really hard to say, but you are my girlfriend, so I'll tell you. As you know, my family are all spirit mediums, going back about fifteen generations to Ami Fey. There are two families: the main family and the branch family. The Master of the main family is the woman with the greatest channeling power. The main family always gets the richest, most powerful clients. Needless to say, this causes a lot of tension between them and the branch families, and fighting usually erupts as a result. As you know, I'm on very good terms with my little sister Maya. Maya's very enthusiastic about spirit channeling, even though she's not very good at it. After seeing the fight between my mother and her older sister, I didn't want to have any sort of falling-out with Maya, as my powers are stronger than hers. So, I decided to leave the tradition altogether. Maya will be the next Master, and her descendants will be the main family. There you have it: I became a lawyer so that I could escape my family's inner conflicts and maintain my loving relationship with Maya. She's all I have ever since our mother left us, and she means the world to me."

"But," I said, "Don't you think it's a bit irresponsible to leave the seat of the Master in Maya's hands, given what her abilities are like?"

"Honestly," Mia said, her tone growing bitter, "I don't have any problems with spirit channeling, but I want to take my family's traditions, chop them up, grind them into little pieces, and drop them into a vat of acid. They cause so much unhappiness, all that nonsense about branch families and main families. I spit on those traditions."

I turned away from Mia, lying on my side. "Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Mia wrapped her arm around her stomach, and I felt her spooning me. "No, I should be the one apologizing. I overreacted. Maya may not be strong now, but she's been getting better. The family will do fine in her hands."

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Maya's very lucky to have you as a sister."

Mia kissed my neck. "Not as lucky as I am to have you as a girlfriend."

I chuckled. "Thank you, honey. Good night."

"Good night," she nuzzled my neck, and I turned out the light.

When I awoke the next morning, Mia was not in the bed with me. I saw her wearing her spandex shorts. "Hey, sexy, where are you going without me?"

"Up to the lake," she said, putting on her sports bra. "I want to leave as soon as possible. If you want, I'll wait for you there."

"That'd be nice," I said in between yawns. "Be ready in a few." After about a minute of struggling, she finally got the clasp in place, and walked out the door. It took about ten minutes of ambling around before I was fully awake, and I got on my running shorts and a t-shirt that was lying in the corner.

Twenty minutes later, I arrived at Gourd Lake, where Mia was waiting for me. She was standing outside a boat shop, waiting for the owner, an old man wearing a scarf. "Hello there, Lisa!" He said.

Mia didn't appear confused by this. In fact, she played along. "Hi, dad," she said quite pleasantly.

I walked straight up and whispered in Mia's ear, "Is he your…"

"No," Mia whispered back, "He isn't my father. I'll explain later."

The man looked back at me. "And if it isn't that cute little girl you played with during summer. Trisha, was it?"

"Y-yes," I said awkwardly. "It's…nice to see you again, sir."

"I tell ya what," the man gestured for us to lean in, "It doesn't look like Keith and Meg are gonna show up anytime soon, so what do you say you run this here noodle shop and take care of Polly when I kick the bucket?"

"Um…" I wasn't sure how to answer this, but Mia helped me save face.

"It seems you've also been renting boats here. Mind if Trisha and I try one out, just so we can get the feel of the business?"

"Oh…er, of course, Lisa." The old man looked confused, but not unhappy. "You know what? You can take one out for free, since you'll be helpin' and everything."

"No, dad," Mia said, fishing a dollar bill out of her spandex pocket. "I wouldn't feel right doing that. I'll pay, just like all your customers."

The man smiled and handed us each an oar. "Well, ain't you a sweetheart, Lisa. You make your pop proud."

"I'm glad to hear it." She grabbed my hand and we walked over to the dock. Mia fitted the oars in their proper places as I unhitched the boat from its post. We got in and pushed off.

As soon as we were out of earshot, I spoke. "Why were you indulging that old man? Doesn't that strike you as a bit cruel?"

"Not at all," Mia said. "What would be even crueler is to tell him the truth. The poor man has amnesia. I guess I just look a lot like his daughter. Can you imagine the anguish he would feel if I told him every time I came here that I'm not his daughter, and that his wife is probably dead? I've heard that upon the death of their spouse, widowers are ten times as likely as widows to commit suicide, so I'm sure men take loss of a loved one much harder than we do."

I leaned back as Mia took the oars. "I never thought about it that way. Guess I'm just too wrapped up in law to bother studying people. That's what happens to experts in everything; they are so obsessed with their work, they lose sight of humanity. That's me: an expert in the making, losing my grasp of what's important."

Mia tried to reassure me. "No, you're not! I never would've gone further than our first kiss with you if I weren't sure that you're a very caring, kind person. The way you talk about Ema is proof of that."

"I hope you're right, Mia," I said, "But you're probably not."

"Hey," she stopped rowing and put a hand under my chin, pulling my face in close to hers. "There will be no self-degrading in my presence. Is that understood? You really do care about people. When we're making love, your mind is totally there. I can tell."

A single tear flowed from my eye, and I smiled. "I don't have any choice but to take your word for it, do I?" I asked.

Mia wiped the tear away with her thumb and smiled back. "Nope," she said, kissing me.


	5. Chapter 5

We put the boat back, said goodbye to the caretaker, and jogged back to our dormitory. After taking a hot shower together, Mia and I got dressed and started studying. "We've got another mock trial coming up," she reminded me. "A civil case this time."

"Yes," I recalled. "Since you won last time, you're going to be the judge this time."

She looked disappointed. "Pity. I still don't get to face off against you. What will you be doing?"

"I'll be the defense."

"Hmm," A wicked smile etched its way across Mia's face. "Maybe I'll be able to hold you in contempt the way you did it to me."

"Good luck," I said, "You'll need it. I'm not the rowdy courtroom cretin that you are. Ouch!"

She had sharply flicked my thigh. "I'll keep my eye on you, missy. Just you wait."

We resumed studying until Mia got up and went into the kitchen. "Shake it, baby," I said, staring at her rear end.

"You stay focused, counselor," she scolded me. "I want you to be alert in my courtroom."

"Fine," I got back to researching my case file. While I did not have plans to become a defense attorney, this was a case that interested me; a successful author was suing her literature professor for sexual harassment…fifteen years after the fact. It would be fun taking her apart. I could easily use my personal experiences with women to strengthen my case.

"Come and get 'em!" Mia called from the kitchen.

I stood up and went in. Mia had made chicken sandwiches for both of us, and handed me one on a plate. "Thank you."

Mia ate hers rather quickly and started asking me about the case. "So, what can you tell me about the case?"

"It's a sexual harassment case."

Mia stood behind me, wrapped her arms around my waist, and put her head on my shoulder. She kissed my neck. "I know _that_. What can you tell me about the plaintiff?"

I continued eating. "Mia, you know I'm not allowed to tell you any more than that. Stop trying to seduce it out of me, because it didn't work on you, and it won't work on me."

"Oh really?" She took a piece of chicken out of my sandwich and stuck it in her cleavage. My face started getting warm. "You may not eat this out of there unless you tell me one thing about the case."

I looked away, feeling hot and flustered. It wouldn't be easy to resist her, especially since she knew my greatest fetish. "I-I can't tell you that, and that's final."

"Fine." Mia grabbed her breasts, and pushed the chicken up to her mouth, eating it herself, and licking off the remains.

I set the plate down and went into the bathroom, turning on the fan to cover the noise of me pleasuring myself to the sight I had just witnessed. When I was done, I washed my hands and walked out as if nothing had happened.

"You really enjoyed that sandwich, didn't you?" Mia asked.

I lightly hit her on the shoulder with the back of my hand. "Shut up."

We studied for another two hours. Mia's eyes looked heavy. "So," she said sleepily, "What do you think was the biggest mistake the prosecution made in the O.J. Simpson trial?"

"Well," I thought for a moment, "They didn't draw enough attention to Johnny Cochrane's dishonest methods."

"How true," Mia let out a yawn.

"I mean, I've studied how DNA tests are conducted. Handling the sample without gloves at that point would have had a negligible effect on the results. And Cochrane's using that video may have harmed…" I felt some pressure on my thigh and looked down. Mia had fallen asleep on my lap. I guessed she'd just been awake too long. She looked adorable sleeping. I ran my hand delicately over her face and grabbed a pillow, feeling a bit tired myself and not wanting to wake her up.

When I awoke the next morning, Mia was still asleep on my thigh. I took the pillow, scooted out, and put it underneath Mia's head. "Enjoy your rest, Your Honor," I kissed her on the cheek, and went to do my morning routines. I had showered, done my hair, dressed, and eaten my breakfast by the time Mia woke up. I put the judge's robe I had worn on the coffee table. "The trial's in an hour. Are you ready, Your Honor?"

Mia yawned. "Just give me about half an hour."

"I'm heading out. There's cereal on top of the fridge."

"Thank you." She hugged my waist.

"Judge wisely today."

At school, I found out who my opponent was. The Plaintiff's lawyer was Hannah Rivers, a spoiled princess type from an upper-middle class family who had a sense of entitlement the size of the moon; she would doubtlessly make things easier for me and make herself look bad. Her client's stage-name was Nebari Fox, a writer with a Master's in Women's Studies. My client's stage-name was Henry Blum, a world-renowned literature professor who had taught Fox in college; he had developed a severe case of bronchitis, and had suffered from two heart attacks. If ever I needed proof of God's existence, this was it. This time, Rashood was on my team. He was quite brilliant, so that would be helpful.

We took our places in the classroom, and Mia arrived after we'd waited about ten minutes. Dan Berry, who had been selected for the role of bailiff, spoke. "All rise in the presence of the honorable Justice Mia Fey." I stood, and Mia walked in gracefully (for her) and took her seat on the Judge's podium.

"All may be seated," she said, and put on her reading glasses to view the case layout. "The trial of Nebari Fox vs. Henry Blum will now come to order. Are the opposing counsels ready?"

"The Plaintiff is ready, your Honor," Hannah said a little too quickly.

"The Defense is ready, your Honor," I said, making sure to keep cool.

"The Court will now hear opening statements from both the Plaintiff and the Defense."

Hannah stood. "Fifteen years ago, my client, Miss Nebari Fox, was in a classroom here at Ivy University reviewing a paper she had written for her professor, the Defendant, Henry Blum. Suddenly, and without warning, Professor Blum forced himself upon my client and groped her thigh, uttering words that made her extremely uncomfortable. When he backed down, my client, horrified as she was, ran to the nearby restroom and vomited in the toilet. It is the Plaintiff's intention that Mr. Blum pay a $50,000 fine for emotional damages, issue a formal hand-written apology to my client, and be dismissed from his position as Dean of Literature at Ivy University. That is all."

I stood as Hannah sat down. "Your Honor, the Defense believes that Miss Fox is filing this lawsuit as an attempt to make a name for herself, to tarnish my client's reputation, and to boost sales of her books. The Defense intends to prove that Miss Fox not only never resisted my client's advances, but that she encouraged them by her actions. That is all."

"Thank you, counselor. The Plaintiff may call its first witness."

Hannah cleared her throat. "The Plaintiff calls Jackie Neubauer to the stand." Jackie was sworn in. "Miss Neubauer, how are you related to my client?"

Jackie began. "I've known Nebari ever since my first day of college. We were signed up for all the same classes."

"Will you please testify to the court about the events of the day in question?"

"Certainly. That day, I went with Nebari to talk to Professor Blum about our papers. She showed hers to him first. While he was in the middle of reading Nebari's, I went to the bathroom. When I got back, I saw Nebari standing in a corner with her back to the wall. Professor Blum was standing over her, and he…oh god, he had his hand on her thigh. He said 'You have the aura of excellence upon you.' I gasped, and they heard me, so Professor Blum let go and Nebari ran out the door. He watched her run away and yelled after her 'You are a deeply troubled girl!'"

"No further questions, your Honor."

"The defense may cross-examine the witness."

I stood up. Jackie was small and timid. I could easily discredit her through cross-examination. "Miss Neubauer, is it? What was the topic of the paper you submitted that evening?"

Hannah was quick on her toes. She slammed her hands onto the table, scooted her chair back, and yelled "Objection! This line of questioning is irrelevant!"

Before Mia could reply, I interjected. "Your Honor, I assure you that while this line of questioning may seem irrelevant, it will help us ascertain the truth about the events of the night in question, if you would just grant me some leniency."

"Hmm," Mia thought for a moment. "Okay, I'll give you a chance. Objection overruled." She turned to Jackie. "Please answer the counselor's question." Hannah looked like she was about to blow a blood vessel.

"I, um, I wrote about Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem _Rime of the Ancient Mariner_."

"A fine poem indeed," I said. "What was your thesis?"

"It, er, it was…I can't quite remember," she said.

That was it. "That's funny. You seem to remember quite a few details of what happened that night, yet you can't even remember what your thesis was."

Hannah hit her hands on the table and shouted "Really, Miss Skye, what is your point?!"

Mia responded before I could answer. "Miss Rivers, you're hurting my ears, and you're showing disrespect to this court."

She sat down quickly. "I'm sorry, your Honor."

"Apology accepted," Mia smiled, but her words did not reflect her expression. "Just be careful, or there will be consequences."

"I understand," Hannah said.

"My point, Miss Rivers," I said to her, "Is that your witness is lying on the stand!"

"W-what?" Jackie sounded shocked.

"I know how to detect lies," I replied. "Many people can train themselves to control their breathing, their eye movements, and any unconscious twitches. Actors know this. So the foolproof way to sniff out a liar is to ask for information."

Hannah wouldn't be done in so easily. "It happened fifteen years ago. Do you really expect the witness' memory to be crystal-clear?"

I scoffed. "The part about my client's conduct certainly seemed crystal-clear. Keep in mind, however, that insufficient information is not the only indicator of a liar. An overabundance of information, especially information one shouldn't have, is also an excellent indicator."

"Umm," Jackie said nervously, "Your Honor?"

"Yes?"

"M-may I please testify again? I'm sorry, but I might have embellished a few details. I just want to get my story right."

"Hmm." Mia thought for a second. "Very well, but this will be the last testimony you will give regarding the incident itself."

_Good luck, honey,_ I thought to Jackie. _You_ _can't fix a broken testimony._

Jackie cleared her throat. "So, I'd just gotten back from the bathroom, and I saw Nebari in the room with Professor Blum. She was walking away from him rather quickly. She walked around me, and exited the classroom. Professor Blum pushed me out of the way and yelled something after her. I don't remember exactly what, though."

"Defense," Mia said, "You may begin your cross-examination."

I looked up at her, and tossed my hair the way she usually did. "Gladly, your Honor."

"The Defense will refrain from flirting with the Court."

"You know you like it," I whispered, then turned to Jackie. "Miss Neubauer, I can't help but wonder; why did you give those particular details in your previous testimony, but not now?"

"Um, well…"

"Was it because Nebari told you to say them?"

"N-no!"

"Then why?"

Jackie's eyes filled with tears. _Damn,_ I thought, _She's a good actress._ "B-because she told me that's what happened, and I believed her. Please, stop bullying me!"

I refused to acquiesce to her waterworks display. "Miss Neubauer, cut the crying act. You're not fooling me."

She stopped sobbing. "Why are you attacking me like this?"

"Because your testimony is difficult for me to believe."

Hannah stood up. "But this doesn't change anything!" She insisted. "The witness' new testimony does not contradict my client's version of events in any way!"

I thought for a moment. "Maybe not, Miss Rivers." Then I turned to Jackie. "Miss Neubauer, I would like new testimony from you. This time, I would like you to testify about how Miss Fox behaved toward Professor Blum in the classroom."

"Objection!" Hannah shouted again. "This line of questioning is irrelevant."

I shot a cold glance at her. "You know better. You know where I'm going, and you know it'll wreck your case."

The pencil that Hannah was holding snapped in half. "Your Honor," she insisted, her voice almost crackling, "The Defense is asking about something unrelated to the case at hand."

"Oh no, your Honor," I said, "I assure you, this is completely relevant to the case."

"Well," Mia said after a moment, "The Defense did show competence with a similar line of questioning earlier. Overruled."

I bore down on Jackie, but kept my cool. "Let's hear it, Miss Neubauer."

She inhaled several times, but didn't exhale, and collapsed in her chair. "It appears the witness has fainted," Mia remarked. "The court will take a fifteen-minute recess while she pulls herself together. Court is adjourned!" She pounded her gavel.

During the recess, I approached Rashood. "You're doing pretty well up there, Lana," he congratulated me.

"Don't get your hopes up," I warned him. "I'm still quite worried. Hannah could prove her case in the end, and I have very little evidence."

"Hmm." He slammed his fist into his hand. "I have an idea! Lana, do you have a copy card?"

I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out my wallet. "Yeah. Why?"

"I'll need to copy something from the BLD, and I need to make a couple printouts. I promise, it'll help the case."

I handed the card to him. "There's sixty cents left on it. Will that be enough?"

"Yes. Go ahead and start without me, and I'll be back as soon as I can." He put a hand on my shoulder. "You're smart, Lana. I know you can figure out a way to use what I'll give you."

"Thanks, Rashood," I smiled and pulled his hand off. "Now get going!"

"Sorry, got carried away a bit," he turned on his heel and ran down the hall in the direction of the library.

"Hey Lana," another student said, "We're about to start again."

"Okay." I followed him in and sat down.

Mia cleared her throat and pounded her gavel. "Court will now resume." She looked over at me. "Miss Skye, your colleague seems to be absent."

"He had some errands to run," I said. "He asked that we go on without him. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"Very well. Let us continue where we left off."

I stood and approached the stand, where Jackie was sitting once more. "Miss Neubauer, please testify to the court about Miss Fox's conduct in the classroom towards Professor Blum. And I wish to remind you that you're still under oath."

"O-okay. Nebari was one of Professor Blum's favorite students. She always responded when he called on her. I noticed that when she talked to him in private, she often had her fingers on her chest, and spoke in a really sweet voice. She was just really nice to him."

"You may cross-examine the witness, Miss Skye."

"With pleasure," I said. "Miss Neubauer, what is it that really set Professor Blum apart from other English professors?"

"He had a unique style of interpreting literature. He rejected feminist, Marxist, religious, and psychoanalytic interpretations, and told us that we were only to do aesthetic interpretations of literature. We always got interesting, enlightening results."

"How did he react to Miss Fox's treatment of him?" I pried.

"He seemed to feel flattered by it, but often felt nervous."

"So, was it common for his female students to flirt with him like Miss Fox did?"

"Objection!" Hannah yelled.

"Miss Rivers," Mia said, "I thought I warned you not to yell in this courtroom."

"Sorry, your Honor. I'm just objecting to the defense's conjecture."

"Objection sustained," Mia said. "Before you rephrase your question, Miss Skye, I wish to issue a warning: the next person who yells in here will be held in contempt of court. Now, if you will proceed."

I looked back at Jackie. "Did most of the female students behave towards Professor Blum as Nebari did?"

"Well, I didn't watch too carefully. I mean, isn't it natural for girls to try and get their teachers to like them?"

"I suppose it is," I said, "But there are consequences for actions. Do you get my drift?"

"Um…no, I don't."

"What I mean is…"

Hannah stood up, but kept her voice at a moderate level. "How dare you insinuate that Professor Blum was justified in his actions!"

That bitch did not know when to quit, and she was really getting on my nerves. "Let me finish!" I snapped at her.

"Ha!" A sound of approval came from the Judge's chair.

I looked up at Mia. "Does something amuse you in all this, your Honor?"

She smiled smugly. "Miss Skye, do you remember the warning that I gave just a minute ago?"

It finally dawned on me. "Oops." I'm sure my face looked like a tomato.

"'Oops' is right. You are now in contempt of court. I'd like to speak to you in private when this trial is done."

"Understood, your Honor." Just then, the classroom door opened and Rashood walked in, panting and clutching a manila folder.

"Hello, Mr. Fereydoon," Mia said. "I was close to issuing a bench warrant for you."

"I…appreciate…your leniency…your Honor," he took a deep breath. "May I take a couple minutes to confer with my superior?"

Mia looked at Hannah. "Does the Plaintiff have any objections?"

Hannah smiled. "The Defense is grasping at straws now. I almost feel sorry for them. Let them have their little conference."

"Very well. The Court will now take a five-minute recess, but this will be the last of the day. Some of us have playoffs to watch. Court is adjourned!" She slammed her gavel.

Nobody bothered to leave the courtroom, but most of us began talking. "So," I asked Rashood, "What did you get me?"

He gave me my copy card back and opened the folder. There was a Xeroxed paper with a small portion highlighted and three computer printouts. "I was hoping we could maybe use a technicality to support our case."

I looked carefully at the Xeroxed sheet, then smiled. "Yes. This will do very nicely."

"And I decided to see if I could get some information about the incident from when it happened by accessing the complaints files." He showed me his printouts.

I smiled at him. "Rashood, you did a terrific job. I'm sure I can use these. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiled back at me, and we took our seats.

Mia hit her gavel a couple minutes later. "Court will now resume. Miss Skye, would you like to continue to question the witness?"

"No thank you, your Honor. I would like to call a new witness instead."

"Who would you like to call?"

"The Defense calls the Plaintiff, Miss Nebari Fox, to the stand as a hostile witness."

"Does the Plaintiff's counsel object?"

"I do not object to her testifying," Hannah said, "But I do object to her being labeled a 'hostile witness.'"

Nebari took the stand and swore her oath. She was wearing expertly-applied makeup. "So, what do you want me to talk about?" She asked, looking daggers at me.

"I would like you to testify about the incident in question."

"It's just like Jackie said. I was in the classroom one evening to discuss my paper with Professor Blum. I'd written an exposition of Emily Dickinson's 'Because I could not stop for Death', and Professor Blum said it was exceptional. Then he pushed me against the wall and said 'You have the aura of excellence upon you.' The next thing I knew, his bony, heavy hand was hot on my inner thigh. I pushed him away from me and ran past Jackie, who had just entered the room. I heard him yell after me 'You are a deeply troubled girl.' I felt troubled, all right, and ran straight to the ladies' room, where I threw up in one of the toilets. For the rest of the semester, I was scared to be in the same room alone with him."

I probed further. "Did anything similar to that event happen again?"

"No, thank God." She said.

"I wish to begin the cross-examination, your Honor."

"I'm not stopping you." Apparently, being a Judge gave Mia a free license to be a wise ass—I would have to point that out to her later, when she couldn't slap any more counts of contempt on me.

"Miss Fox," I began, "Did you ever give any sort of hints to Professor Blum that you thought of him as more than a mentor to you?"

"Objection!" Hannah cried.

Mia looked at her, exasperated. "Miss Rivers, this is getting old. You object far too often, especially to lines of questioning that have already proven to hold merit. Overruled. Miss Fox, please answer the Defense's question."

"Well, I did try to be friendly to him. I thought he might be more lenient on me if he found me attractive."

"And you're complaining that he acted on your signals?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Men should be able to control themselves!" She said, her voice raised.

"Miss Fox," I began, wondering whether I was doing the smart thing, "Let me let you in on a little secret. I am bisexual, and…"

Before I could finish, she interrupted. "Don't even try. I don't swing that way."

I smiled slyly at her. "I wasn't hitting on you. Still, I'm glad you said that, because it's quite revealing. It shows me how you view other people. You think that every man and lesbian in the world is trying to get into your pants." I could hear Hannah's breath getting heavy, like a bull ready to charge. Just for a bit of comic relief, I turned to her. "Miss Rivers, should I call an ambulance for you? You seem to be hyperventilating." The classroom burst into laughter, which only seemed to infuriate her further.

"No need," she said, a muscle appearing in her cheek. "I'll be fine."

I got back to the cross-examination. "As I was saying, Miss Fox, I am bisexual, and I have a pretty good idea of how men look at women. Your hair is quite sexy, if I say so myself. How long did it take you to do?"

She smiled proudly. "Two hours."

"It really shows. And your makeup is quite exquisite."

"Your point?" She rolled her eyes at me like an adolescent.

"My point? From what I can tell, you were leading Professor Blum on. Sending him signals that said 'I am available.'"

"But," she stammered, "Isn't it normal to flirt with your teachers a bit? I'm sure _you've_ done it before."

"I haven't," I said, "And believe me, it was tempting. I've had crushes on plenty of my professors, male and female. You need to exercise some self-awareness."

"But that doesn't change the facts! Professor Blum sexually harassed me, and he needs to be punished by the law." I started chuckling. "What's so funny?"

"You, Miss Fox," I said, "Have just dug your own grave."

"What do you mean?"

I went over to our desk and Rashood, seeing that I had deciphered his idea, handed me the Xeroxed page. I took it over to Mia and handed it to her. "Your Honor, do you know what this is?"

Mia put on her reading glasses, which gave her a slightly nerdy look that I found quite cute. "It looks like a photocopy from Black's Law Dictionary."

"Would you please read the highlighted section to the Court?"

"Certainly. 'Hostile environment sexual harassment: Sexual harassment in which a work environment is created where an employee is subject to unwelcome verbal or physical sexual behavior that is either severe or pervasive.'"

"Miss Fox," I said. "You told us earlier that this incident was the only one of its kind during the time you were acquainted with Professor Blum, so I think we can say that it was not pervasive. You claim that my client touched your thigh, which is not a sexual body part, so I think we can say that it was not severe. 'You have the aura of excellence upon you' is hardly a come-on, so we can rule out the possibility of verbal harassment."

"But," she tried to sound scared with little success, "Haven't you ever been harassed by men? Don't you know how uncomfortable it makes you?"

"Oh, boo hoo," I said. "I've had plenty of construction workers whistle at me when I walk by. I just find some way to make fun of them back, then continue about my business. If a man makes some degrading remark about my breasts, I tell him on the spot to shut up. Other men see this, and they know better than to harass me. Maybe you should try the same."

"But," she seemed to be quite fond of that word, "He still did something degrading to me!"

I was ready for her. "My client denies those accusations, and nobody witnessed the actual incident. Under our present court system, evidence is everything." Rashood handed me the printout, and I handed it to Mia. "If it pleases your Honor."

Mia read it. "'Your search for "Nebari Fox Henry Blum" yielded no results.' Hmm, it appears that an official complaint was never filed."

Hannah, who had seemed rather tongue-tied, spoke up. "They probably deleted it when they deemed it too minor an incident. Typical of a male-run institution."

"Your Honor, please read the next page."

"There's a complaint here from the same year…it seems that a certain girl, whose name is unrelated to this case, complained that she was the victim of a 'partial rape' because a boy complimented her on her legs."

I smiled at Hannah. "The Defense rests."

Mia put the papers away. "Does the Plaintiff's attorney have anything to add?"

Hannah looked like she had sat on a razor. "The Plaintiff rests, too."

"In that case," Mia said, "The time has come for me to render a verdict. There is no conclusive evidence that the incident in question actually occurred. Even if there were, it could not safely be defined as sexual harassment. Also, the incident in question is rumored to have occurred fifteen years ago. If this were a criminal case, the Statute of Limitations would have expired five years ago. The Court rules in favor of the Defense. Mr. Blum, you do not have to pay a fine. Court is adjourned." She slammed her gavel, making her verdict final.

Rashood stood and faced me. "Lana, you were magnificent," he said. "You played your hand perfectly."

"Thanks, Rashood," I said. "But I couldn't have done it without your quick thinking."

"So, uh," He chuckled nervously and put his hand behind his head, "Coffee?"

I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I'd doubtlessly be hurting his feelings, but it couldn't be helped. "You know, Rashood, I'd really love to. You're a nice, handsome guy, and you're certainly very smart. I'd say yes, but I'm taken."

He looked down. "Oh. Who is it, if I may ask?"

"Mia," I said. No sooner had I spoken than Mia was standing by my side, still wearing the Judge's robe.

"That's right," she said, putting an arm around me.

He looked back up, and smiled. "Ah. I see. That explains the way you were looking at her. It's okay, I'm cool with it."

"You bitch!" A female voice behind me spoke.

I turned around to greet the speaker. It was Hannah. "Can I help you with something?"

"What's wrong with you?!" She demanded. "You're both ruining the fight against sexual harassment!"

"Will you relax?" I demanded. "It's just a mock trial in a Law School classroom."

"I don't care!" She said, and jabbed me with her finger as she spoke. "You were too focused on your victory to remember what it means to be a woman, and you even used the fact that you've been sleeping with the Judge to help you…"

She was cut off by Mia's hand colliding with her face at high speed. Mia stared her down. "You just shut your slandering mouth, you little whore. The fact that Lana's my girlfriend had no effect whatsoever on my verdict. You seem to be forgetting that I held her, and not you, in contempt of court, even though it was your actions that provoked me to set that ultimatum, and yet you still have the nerve to insult both me and Lana. You should be ashamed of yourself."

Hannah rubbed the hand-shaped red mark on her face. "I-I'm sorry."

"You'd better be," Mia said sternly. "Come on, Lana," she took my hand in hers, "Let's go home. You've got your sentence to serve for contempt."

We walked back to our dorm. This time, Mia removed her own robe. She put both of her hands on my butt, squeezed, and kissed me. "For your punishment," she said, "You must do whatever I say for the next hour."

"Oh no," I said with fake alarm, "That's scary!"

"Now," she said, "Take off all of your clothes…except for those thigh-high black stockings. They just look too hot on you."

"Okay," I said, and removed my clothes in front of her.

"Now, sit on the couch and spread your legs."

I sat. "You're not going to put anything…weird in me, are you, your Honor?"

Mia kneeled in front of me and grinned. "I left my gavel at the Court House." She put her head on the couch and licked me. "You taste like orange marmalade. I want some more."

She was really good at it. "Have you…ooh…ever done this before?" I asked. Without releasing her suction, she shook her head. "So, how did you get to…mmm…be so good at it?" Mia pointed to my face. Apparently, she had learned from me. Remembering what aroused her, I bent down and grabbed her breasts, lightly squeezing her nipples.

"Mmm!" She moaned with excitement, shoving her tongue in deeper. I wrapped my legs around her head to pull her in. When I finally climaxed, she pulled her head away, climbed onto me and kissed me.

"You're right," I said when she let me breathe, "It does taste like orange marmalade."

"Oh, you," She tapped my left breast. I slapped her ass through her skirt. "Hey," she said, clearly aroused but struggling to maintain her dominance, "Did I give you permission to spank me?"

"Sorry, your Honor. What can I do to make up for it?"

Mia removed her jacket and top. "I think you can figure that out."

It wasn't too hard to understand. I put my mouth onto her right breast, sucking on it and playing with the other one with my hand. I decided not to flick her nipple, as that would have caused her to climax too quickly. She stroked my ears and hair as I did it. After her climax, I lay my head on her chest.

"November's halfway through," she remarked. "Do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?"

"Well," I said, "I usually get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, make some mashed potatoes and gravy, and invite Ema over for dinner. It's just the two of us; all our living relatives are in Europe. Why do you ask?"

"At Kurain Village, we get all the mediums together, and have a huge feast in the main hall. Last year, we needed five turkeys, and we still didn't have leftovers. I was thinking you could come with me."

"Can I bring Ema along?" I asked.

"Of course. We usually have around ten guests a year. There will definitely be room for you and Ema."

"Then count us in," I said, touching her face.

"Classes let out on Tuesday next week, so you'd better call Ema soon." She grabbed my hand. "My car can probably hold the three of us."

"It's about time I met your family," I said, drifting to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

The next Tuesday, Mia and I were on the sofa when a knock sounded on the door, startling both of us. I fell onto the floor and, as we readjusted our clothes, I went over to the door and answered it. A small girl wearing pink-lensed sunglasses and a labcoat was standing there, her hair in a topknot. "Lana!" She said, smiling and reaching up.

I crouched down and put my arms around her. "It's so nice to see you again, Ema."

She walked into our room, where Mia was hastily cleaning up the undergarments we'd left on the floor the previous night. "Who is this?"

Mia hid the clothes behind her back. "I'm Mia. Mia Fey. I'm Lana's, er, roommate. You must be Lana's sister."

"Yeah," Ema looked back at me. "So, sis, you said you had some different plans for Thanksgiving this year. What are they?"

"Well," I told her, "Mia has invited us to have dinner with her family. They live in a village outside of LA, and they have a rather large feast every year."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mia putting the undergarments into our hamper. "Yes," she said, "I'm sure you'd like it. I have a little sister there; she's about your age. Her name is Maya."

I handed Ema the smaller of two suitcases, and took the larger for myself. "There's stuff in there for you. We'll be staying at the village for a couple days."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I said, "Don't you want a chance to experience life in a traditional village?"

"That'd be great!" Ema said. "I'm willing to put chemistry off for a while and pick up social science instead."

I laughed and ruffled Ema's bangs. "What did I tell you, Mia? She's a scientist through and through."

"I can see that," she said. "She's got the same aura of brilliance as her older sister."

"Oh you," I said, "You flatter me too much. Do you have everything?"

Mia had just picked up her suitcase. "All they've got there are traditional clothes, so I thought I'd bring my own. I want to show them how much I've tried to separate from their traditions."

"Then let's get going. It'll be nice to leave this stuffy dorm behind." Ema and I walked out, and Mia turned the lights off behind us and locked the door.

The car ride took about three hours, and one-third of the route took us over unpaved roads. When we finally arrived, we parked the car outside of a large fence, and unloaded our supplies. Ema was glad for a chance to finally stretch her legs, and was the first to enter the torii gate. Mia and I walked in side-by-side. No sooner did the houses come into view than a girl with black hair and a topknot much similar to Ema's come running up to us. She was wearing a purple robe and strange beads around her neck with an ornament similar to the one Mia wore. "Siiiiiis!" She yelled as she ran. I instinctively grabbed Mia's suitcase for her (Reggie told me that I had a man's strength). Sure enough, the girl jumped at Mia, and Mia swung her around, holding onto her. "Sis, I'm so glad to see you!"

"I'm glad to see you too, Maya," She said, and gestured to me. "This is my roommate, Lana Skye. I invited her and her sister over for Thanksgiving. She plans to be a prosecutor."

Maya shook hands with me and smiled mischievously. "So, are you emotionally prepared to get your butt whipped in court by my sister?"

I laughed. "I'm afraid that's probably not going to happen. After all, I'm at the top of the class."

"Just you wait," Maya said, smiling slyly. "My sis is super-smart." She looked back at Mia. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I gotta go take care of Pearly."

"Pearly?" Mia asked. "Who's that?"

"Didn't you hear?" Maya said, walking backwards. "Aunt Morgan had a new baby about five years ago." She ran off.

"That's so strange," Mia said. "I didn't see any toddlers at last year's Thanksgiving."

"Mystic Mia," a stern female voice said. I looked for the source and at a building nearby and saw a middle-aged woman in a kimono with a hairstyle that made her look like a giant mushroom. She was carrying a cup with steam rising out of the top. Green tea, I guessed. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you this year."

"Oh shit," Mia muttered without moving her lips, loud enough for only me to hear. I could see a muscle forming in her cheek. She put on a very fake-looking smile and spoke up, in a sweet tone that sounded just as artificial as her smile. "Hello, Aunt Morgan."

Morgan glared at Mia with a flash in her eyes that intimidated even me. "That's iMystic/i Morgan to you, young lady." She stopped glaring and looked at me in a manner that seemed almost…friendly. "Who might you be?" She extended her hand to me.

I shook her hand, but before I could introduce myself, Mia cut in. "This is Lana Skye, my girlfriend." The way she said 'girlfriend' sounded full of defiance, as if she were trying to show her Aunt just how much she was breaking from tradition.

If this shocked Morgan, she certainly didn't show it. "Nice to meet you, darling. How did you come to be acquainted with my rogue of a niece?"

"Um," I still felt nervous around this woman. She seemed to be emanating power. "Mia and I go to Ivy U Law School, and we have a class together. Plus, we're now roommates."

Morgan smiled. "Oh, you're becoming a lawyer, are you?"

"A prosecutor, to be precise," I said. "Just like my father."

"It's admirable of you to carry on your family tradition," Morgan said, then shot a glance at Mia. "Unlike some other people I know."

"Aunt Morgan," Mia changed the subject, "Why didn't I see your daughter at Thanksgiving last year?"

Morgan withdrew a hand into the sleeve of her kimono, and put it up to her face as if she were wiping away tears. "I care very deeply for my Pearl. Since you're away from the village so much, I was worried you might corrupt her young mind with some of the uncouth city ways you'd no doubt picked up, so I gave her dinner in another room. If you really insist on seeing her, I'll let her sit at the main table, but you must keep your conversation about the city to a minimum."

I began to wonder if coming here was a mistake. It was certainly unnerving to get involved in the Fey family's politics. To make matters worse, Mia decided to probe even deeper. "Who's the father?"

Morgan gave Mia the same scary glare she'd given just a minute before. "That, Mystic Mia, is none of your business." She turned back to me. "Lana, my dear," I could have sworn I heard one of Mia's blood vessels explode, "I'm sorry, but we don't have any extra rooms. If you wish, I could set up an extra-large futon in Mia's old room. You wouldn't mind sleeping next to her, now, would you?"

I smiled. "I already do every night. Yes, your idea would be fine. But I brought my little sister here, too. Where would she sleep?"

"I'm sure Mystic Maya wouldn't mind sharing a room. Do you think your sister could handle somebody who's, how should I put it, a bit slow on the uptake?"

"Aunt Morgan…" Mia muttered.

Before she could use her patented glare on Mia and correct her again on honorifics, I answered. "Ema will be fine. She's used to people like that."

"Then it's settled. Enjoy your stay with us, Miss Skye. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask me." She walked away.

I turned to Mia, whose face was bright red; the cold air made her breath visible, and now that she was breathing harshly through her nostrils, she slightly resembled a cartoonish bull, ready to charge. "She's quite a dichotomy, that one," I remarked once Morgan was out of earshot.

"No, she isn't," Mia said with the same bitterness she had used when I'd asked her about her family's dynamics a month earlier. "Morgan is rotten to the core. She's just a good actress, that's all. I once suggested to her that she utilize her talents properly, and take up acting instead of spirit channeling."

"How did she react to that?"

Mia's face soon returned to its normal color and she grinned. "Her underdeveloped power is her most sensitive area, so she pretended not to be offended. Her lip quivering made her so ugly." She laughed.

"So, where is this old room of yours?" I changed the subject; I was a little angry at Mia for her ingratitude towards Morgan for raising her, a luxury that I didn't have myself. Then again, she probably had her reasons, and I certainly didn't think myself qualified to judge her.

She happily picked up her suitcase and grabbed my hand. "It's right this way." She led me to one of the buildings and slid the door on the side open.

The room inside had a large futon on the floor, clearly made for two people. We set our suitcases by the closet in the corner. "It looks nice in here."

"This room is a bit drafty, so it gets rather cold at night this time of year." She intertwined her hands with mine and pulled me in. "You know what that means, don't you?"

"We'll have to stay really close, won't we?"

"Indeed." She leaned in and kissed me.

The door slid open beside us, and we broke apart quickly. Morgan was there. "Oh, hello there, you two. I just wanted to tell you that dinner will be ready in an hour, so wash up." She walked away before Mia could smart-mouth her.

"Where do we wash up?" I asked Mia.

"There's a hot water pump by the kitchen. I'll show you." She led me across the village, and we took turns pumping out the water and washing our hands.

For dinner, Morgan had prepared a pasta and beef dish with teriyaki vegetables and sides of rice. Maya and Ema ate at a separate table. Morgan poured the tea herself. I tasted some. "This has been brewed perfectly, Mystic Morgan."

She smiled and sat down. "Thank you, Lana. So, tell me, how did you and Mystic Mia meet?"

I saw no harm in telling her. "We're taking a class together at Law School. I was reading a bulletin one day when Mia approached me and asked to study with me since I was at the top of the class. I was skeptical at first, but Mia showed me just how smart she is. I've benefitted from having her as a study partner in more ways than one."

"Mm, I can imagine. So, what was your major before you went to Law School?"

I took a bite of food. "Criminal Justice. I actually plan to be a detective for a while before I become a prosecutor so that I can learn how to handle evidence properly."

She nodded approvingly. "That's very wise of you. It's admirable how much dedication you show to your career."

"Really? Thank you, Mystic Morgan."

"Lana…" Mia whispered, nudging me.

"What's eating you, Mia?" I asked her in a normal voice.

She sighed. "Never mind."

Morgan laughed. "Mia's never been one for dinnertime conversation. So, Lana, has Mia told you yet what it is we do here in Kurain Village?"

I nodded. "You're all spirit mediums, correct?"

Morgan raised her eyebrows. "I'm surprised she told you."

"She did more than tell me. She performed a channeling for me."

Morgan looked at Mia. "Mystic Mia, is this true?"

I looked at Mia. She glanced up at Morgan. I couldn't tell whether the expression in her eyes was shame or pride. "It's true."

"Whom did you channel, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

I turned to Morgan and smiled. "She channeled my father."

"You lost your father?"

"Yes," I said, swallowing some tea. "He and my mother died in a car accident when I was fifteen."

"I'm terribly sorry to hear that."

"Don't be," I said. "Thanks to what you taught Mia, I was able to see my father again. It was wonderful."

"Mystic Mia," Morgan said, "I'm surprised at you, keeping in practice."

Mia shrugged. "It was just a favor for a friend."

Morgan pointed to me. "I'd say it meant more to her than a mere favor."

Mia looked at me. "Oh!" She picked up her napkin and dabbed under my eyes with it.

I didn't realize I'd been crying. "Yes," I said to Mia, "It did mean a lot to me. My father was the first person I loved. I should've told you that much."

"Better late than never." Mia kissed me on the cheek.

Morgan tapped me on the shoulder. "Lana, dear, I thought I should let you know that Mystic Mia will be busy most of the day tomorrow, helping us prepare our feast. I wouldn't presume to impose upon a guest, but if you'd be so generous as to help us out in the kitchen, it would be greatly appreciated."

I nodded. "I'd be delighted to assist, Mystic Morgan. Cooking is one of my favorite past times."

She smiled. "Then you came to the right place. Thank you for offering us an extra pair of hands. We really need it."

By this time, we had finished eating. I stood up and bowed to Morgan. "Thank you for the dinner. It was delicious."

Morgan took a sip of her tea. "It's not often that our village is graced with the presence of someone as delightful as yourself, Miss Skye. Enjoy your sleep."

Mia and I walked hand in hand back to our room. She switched on the heater in the corner and crawled into the futon. I followed her, and we held each other under the covers. "You're really lucky," she said. "I never really knew my father. He was always away from the village, and he stopped visiting altogether after my mother disappeared."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm truly grateful for you doing that channeling."

Mia smiled. "Would you like me to do it again?"

"No, once is enough. Now, I've got you to love, and that's good enough." I kissed her.

She chuckled to herself. "Hey, d'you suppose our sisters are doing the same thing right now that we are?"

I squeezed her rear. "They're probably not going as far as we are."

"No, probably not," she said, squeezing me back and using her other hand to unbutton my top. "Maya's pretty much asexual. She and I are so different, yet we get along pretty well. She may not be the brightest bulb in the room, but she's a good kid." By the time her last sentence was finished, Mia had unbuttoned my top halfway and pulled one of my breasts out. "We'll be even warmer if we do some physical activity." With that, she put her mouth on my nipple and sucked. I stroked her hair. A few minutes more, and her hand found its way into my pajama bottoms, right on target, and her fingers got to work slowly but surely. Worried that another resident of the village might hear us through the paper-thin walls, I bit my lip, stifling my moans of pleasure. When I had finally climaxed, Mia withdrew her hand and licked her fingers clean. "Finger-bangin' good," she said with an obscene grin.

I couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Shut up," I said, kissing her.

***

The next morning, I woke up in a very traditional manner—to the crowing of a rooster. I tried to sit up, only to find Mia's arms wrapped tightly around my torso. "Mia, honey," I tried to pry them away, "It's time to get up."

"No," she said, sounding like a little girl being made to get up for school, "Don't wanna. Having very good dream."

"At least let me get up."

"No," she grumbled. "You're comfy and warm, and it's too cold out there." She pulled me closer, making a point of pressing her large breasts against mine.

"You have to get up isome/itime," I said, trying to hide how adorable I found her act. "Come on, the rooster just said to get up."

"I'm gonna make him part of our dinner tonight," She said in mock anger, finally letting go of me. I stood and removed my pajamas, shivering in the cold as I searched my suitcase for my casual clothes. "You look so cute when you shiver," Mia said.

I put on my blue lace bra. "You're just saying that because you like seeing my tits jiggle."

Mia grinned. "Guilty."

I put on a long-sleeved blue t-shirt and pulled my jeans out of my suitcase. "Just get your lazy ass up and get dressed. We've got a long day ahead of us, remember?"

Mia sat up. "Yeah, yeah."

I pulled on my panties and jeans, put my hair in a ponytail, and opened the door. "I'll be waiting out here for you to finish."

"Okay," she said, removing her top. "And you look hot in all blue."

"Thanks," I stepped out. Two pairs of the village's traditional wooden shoes were waiting outside. I slipped my feet into one of them and shut the door behind me.

Morgan walked by. Her kimono nearly touched the ground, and she was taking small steps that didn't bump the front or the back of it, giving her the appearance of gliding slightly above the ground. As usual, she was carrying a cup of tea. She smiled at me. "Good morning, Miss Skye."

I smiled back at her. "Good morning, Mystic Morgan."

"Do you still intend to help me in the kitchen today? I understand if you've changed your mind."

"Oh no," I said, waving a hand to assure her, "I'd still like to help out."

Morgan looked around. "Where's Mystic Mia?"

I gestured behind me with my thumb. "She was a bit slow getting up, so she's not quite dressed yet."

"That's not surprising." Morgan took a sip of her tea.

"Can I ask you something, Mystic Morgan?"

"Go right ahead, dear."

"Don't be afraid to be honest. How do you feel about mine and Mia's…relationship?"

Morgan took a longer sip of tea than usual. "I'd be lying if I said I fully approved of such things. However, you seem to be a good person, and you've certainly proven yourself to be a good influence on Mystic Mia. Besides, I do my best not to judge other people. I think I can make an exception for you and her with my old-fashioned prejudices."

I bowed to her. "Thank you for your kindness, ma'am."

Just then, the door slid open and Mia came out, wearing jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. She put on her sandals and walked up to me, giving me a long kiss with tongue. I was a bit surprised, but I went along with it. When she finally broke away, she looked at Morgan. "So, Aunt Morgan, how many turkeys are we cooking this year?"

"Three," she answered, seemingly unfazed by Mia's public display of affection with me. "I'm hoping you'll take care of the stuffing."

Mia grabbed my hand, and the three of us walked to the kitchen. Morgan looked at me. "How would you feel about doing the potatoes, Miss Skye?"

"That would be acceptable. How many will there be?"

"Around fifty."

I blinked. "That's quite a few. I guess I'd better get started first thing." I let go of Mia's hand and washed up at the hot water pump.

As we pumped out the water, Mia whispered to me. "Remember, this is my Aunt Morgan. She's very manipulative. Don't believe anything she says."

I glanced at Mia. "I prefer to make my own judgments about people, thank you very much," I whispered back. "My intuition has never failed me."

Mia merely responded by letting out a grunt and drying her hands vigorously. She refused to look me in the eye, and walked into the kitchen, her footsteps slightly heavier than usual. I followed her in, and saw Morgan at the counter, sifting through what looked like a bowl filled with water and cranberries. She pointed to a small basin with several bags of potatoes lying near it.

"That's something I ido/i know how to do." I smiled, picked up a peeler, and got to work. Mia had a rice cooker on, and was busy chopping celery for the stuffing. It took about twenty minutes before all of the potatoes were peeled, and the peels in the basin, which I picked up. "What should I do with these?" I asked Morgan, who was mashing up the cranberries with a wooden mallet.

"They go in the compost pile."

"And where would that be?"

"I'll show you," Morgan put down her mallet and walked out.

Mia's chopping got slightly louder. "Relax, will you?" I called out to her, and closed the door with my elbow. Morgan led me to a spot by the garden, where I dumped the basin onto a pile of rotting vegetables.

"My," she said, "It's astonishing that you can lift that thing on your own, especially when it's full like that."

"Yeah," I said. "The guys at Law School seem to be a bit intimidated by my strength."

"Really?" Morgan seemed surprised. "I thought that the men at colleges were more progressive, and more open to strong women."

I laughed. "Oh, no, no, no, they most certainly are not. A lot of so-called 'progressive' ideas today are quite backwards. Men have been told for a long time that masculinity is a bad thing, so naturally they feel quite guilty for being men. A lot of the men at colleges have been brainwashed into thinking this by their liberal parents, who are effectively castrating them."

"You say 'liberal' like it's a dirty word," Morgan remarked.

"I'm a pragmatist," I said. "I only embrace ideas that are practical. Don't get me wrong, most liberals have good intentions, but they just aren't realistic, and they don't realize how harmful some of their ideas are."

"That's certainly surprising. I expected someone with your…lifestyle to be more liberal."

I chuckled. "Most people are surprised that I'm a conservative. However, I am into men as well as women. It's just really hard for me to find real men nowadays. The last man I dated was a construction worker. He was a real man, and instead of being afraid of a strong, opinionated woman like me, he thought I was cute. I don't know why it didn't work between us, but we did break up. I haven't met a single real man since."

"And that's why you decided to get involved with my niece in such a fashion?"

I nodded. "I guess you could say that. It's just so hard for us women to respect men that we can push around."

Morgan put a hand on my shoulder. "Lana, dear," she said, looking concerned, "Can I ask you something?"

It must have been something deep if she was addressing me by my first name. "Of course, Mystic Morgan."

"And you did ask for my honesty earlier about yours and Mystic Mia's relationship. I gave it to you, so I'd like you to do the same."

I felt a bit nervous. "Really, Mystic Morgan, what is it?"

"What does Mystic Mia tell you about me?"

I felt like the bottom had dropped out of my stomach. I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but I was sworn to honesty. "She says that your politeness to me is an act, and that you're a horrible woman."

Morgan seemed unfazed, as usual. "And what do you think?"

"I can see where a bit of her resentment comes from, but I think that overall, you're a rather nice woman. How do you feel about Mia?"

"I'm rather disappointed in her for breaking the family tradition. She'll be leaving the village in the hands of her idiotic oaf of a sister. I can hope that Mystic Maya will have matured enough by the time she is of age, but it's doubtful."

"That doesn't fully answer my question, Mystic Morgan," I said. "You've only told me what you think of Mia's actions. What do you think of Mia herself?"

Morgan sipped her tea, as if trying to delay an answer. "I feel ambivalent. On the one hand, she's really harmed our family by not remaining to serve as the future Master. On the other hand, she is family, and that means there's a bond there that won't ever be broken."

I stood and thought. It was quite likely that Mia had been exaggerating the problems with her aunt. She got overly angry at her, and was engaged in a full-force passive-aggressive combat with her, which couldn't have been good for her mentally or physically. Perhaps I could do something to remedy the situation. "I'm sorry she's so resentful of you."

"Don't be," Morgan said, proceeding back to the kitchen. "It's not your fault."

All the time that I worked on the potatoes, Mia didn't say a single word to me. I tried not to pay attention, and focused instead on the cooking. Mashing potatoes was a really enjoyable activity, and Morgan had a different strategy for cooking them that I had observed my parents using: she used cream instead of milk and butter. "I can't believe I didn't think of that," I said.

"Yes, it's only logical. Cream is the state between milk and butter."

Mia let out a long, deep sigh from the counter. "Is something bothering you, Treebeard?" I asked her.

"Nothing," she said, picking up the bowl she was using and carrying it to the oven.

I figured it wasn't a good moment to talk, so I put the potatoes into their designated dishes, and turned to Morgan. "Is there anything else I can help with?"

"No need," she said. "I can do the pies on my own, but thank you for offering."

I bowed and walked out. Maya was nearby. "Hey, Lana," she walked up to me. "How are you liking it here?"

"It's got a nice, down-to-earth feel. I'm glad I came here. I really needed a break from the city."

Maya rolled her eyes. "This place gets really boring sometimes. I really want to see the city, but I don't have an excuse to leave. Morgan won't let me."

I put a hand on her shoulder. "You know what? When we get back, your sister and I will put our heads together and think of something."

Maya smiled. "That'd be awesome! Thanks, Lana. Hey, you wanna play ball with me and Pearly?"

"Sure. Where is she?"

"Over there," Maya pointed behind me, and I saw a small toddler walking up, wearing medium clothes. Her hair was arranged in a style that looked sort of like a pretzel.

I crouched down to greet her. "Hello there, Pearl."

Pearl looked at the ground and slowly backed away. "Pearly!" Maya called to her, "It's okay! This is Lana, she's a friend of Mystic Mia's!"

Pearl walked slowly up to me, and held out her hand. I shook it. "H-hello, Miss Lana. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Pearl."

She reached forward and pulled my hair through her fingers and smiled. "Your hair is pwetty."

"Thank you. So is yours."

I heard a small snapping noise. Maya was tossing a rubber ball around in her hands. "C'mon, let's get playing, you two." We stepped into a triangular formation, and just then Ema came walking by, carrying what looked like a PDA.

"Ema!" I called out to her, "Join us!"

"Sorry," she said, "I'm busy analyzing soil samples."

I gestured to her. "Come on! Let's have some fun!"

She hesitated for a moment, then put her PDA into her jacket pocket and left it on the porch of one of the buildings. "Fine, I'll try to enjoy myself."

No sooner had we arranged ourselves into a square than a fifth person approached—Mia. "Hey!" She ran up to us. "Don't start without me!" She stood halfway between me and Maya.

"What about dinner?" I asked her.

"The turkeys need to cook for three hours. Morgan will watch them. She's not really much for physical activity."

"A five-person game," I said, handing Mia a hair tie. "Let's just get it started."

Mia tied her hair into a ponytail. "Yes, let's."

Maya threw the ball up into the air, and it fell in Ema's direction. Ema caught it, and threw it to Mia, who rolled it across the ground to Pearl, who threw it to me in a rather clumsy overhand toss. I caught it, and we each took a step back. That cycle continued with a few variations for at least an hour. When we all grew bored of it, we decided to play hide and seek, and chose Mia as the seeker. That whole evening was spent with us just enjoying ourselves playing childhood games. Even Ema seemed to be enjoying herself. As for me, I felt better than I had for at least ten years. I hadn't had that much fun since my parents were alive. The car crash had robbed me of a third of my childhood. I needed to become more responsible to take care of Ema, and hardly had time to do things for myself.

Sadly, the time seemed to fly by all too quickly, when Morgan stepped out and announced that dinner would be ready in a few minutes. We all came out of hiding and went to wash up. Mia came up to me. "What do you think of this place so far?"

I couldn't find an adjective that would suffice, so I just jumped at Mia and wrapped my arms around her, resting my head on her shoulder. "Thank you so much for bringing me here."

Mia patted me on the back. "You're welcome, Lana."


End file.
